Inhibitor of vascular endothelial cell growth factor

ABSTRACT

The vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors of the present invention are naturally occurring or recombinantly engineered soluble forms with or without a C-terminal transmembrane region of the receptor for VEGF, a very selective growth factor for endothelial cells. The soluble forms of the receptors will bind the growth factor with high affinity but do not result in signal transduction. These soluble forms of the receptor bind VEGF and inhibit its function.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part application of application Ser. No. 08/038,769 filed Mar. 25, 1993.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0002] Recently a new class of cell-derived dimeric mitogens with selectivity for vascular endothelial cells has been identified and designated vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF). VEGF has been purified from conditioned growth media of rat glioma cells [Conn et al., (1990), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 87, pp 2628-2632]; and conditioned growth media of bovine pituitary folliculo stellate cells [Ferrara and Henzel, (1989), Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm., 161, pp. 851-858; Gozpadorowicz et al., (1989), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 86, pp. 7311-7315] and conditioned growth medium from human U937 cells [Connolly, D. T. et al. (1989), Science, 246, pp. 1309-1312]. VEGF is a dimer with an apparent molecular mass of about 46 kDa with each subunit having an apparent molecular mass of about 23 kDa. VEGF has some structural similarities to platelet derived growth factor (PDGF), which is a mitogen for connective tissue cells but not mitogenic for vascular endothelial cells from large vessels.

[0003] The membrane-bound tyrosine kinase receptor, known as FLT, was shown to be a VEGF receptor [DeVries, C. et al., (1992), Science, 255, pp.989-991]. The FLT receptor specifically binds VEGF which induces mitogenesis. Another form of the VEGF receptor, designated KDR, is also known to bind VEGF and induce mitogenesis. The partial cDNA sequence and nearly full length protein sequence of KDR is known as well [Terman, B. I. et al., (1991) Oncogene 6, pp. 1677-1683; Terman, B. I. et al., (1992) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 187, pp. 1579-1586].

[0004] Persistent angiogenesis may cause or exacerbate certain diseases such as psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, hemangiomas, angiofibromas, diabetic retinopathy and neovascular glaucoma. An inhibitor of VEGF activity would be useful as a treatment for such diseases and other VEGF-induced pathological angiogenesis and vascular permeability conditions, such as tumor vascularization.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0005] A naturally-occurring FLT messenger RNA (mRNA) was identified and cloned from vascular endothelial cells. This mRNA is shown to encode most of the extracellular, or soluble, portion of the VEGF receptor, FLT. Soluble receptor molecules including forms containing a C-terminal transmembrane region are also recombinantly engineered for this and other VEGF receptors. These soluble receptors, comprising truncated and modified forms are expressed in recombinant host cells and have VEGF binding properties. The soluble receptor proteins are useful as inhibitors of VEGF activity since they will bind available VEGF preventing it from activating its functional receptors on vascular endothelial cells and could form non-functional heterodimers with full-length membrane anchored VEGF receptors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006]FIG. 1—A schematic diagram of full length VEGF receptors (FLT and KDR), the soluble VEGF receptors (sVEGF-RI and sVEGF-RII) and the soluble receptors containing the C-terminal transmembrane region (sVEGF-RTMI and sVEGF-RTMII) are shown with the protein domains of each.

[0007]FIG. 2—The DNA sequence of the sVEGF-RI soluble VEGF receptor/VEGF inhibitor is shown.

[0008]FIG. 3—The amino acid sequence of the sVEGF-RI soluble VEGF receptor/VEGF inhibitor is shown.

[0009]FIG. 4—Demonstration that recombinant host cells express sVEGF-RI is shown by the formation of high molecular weight complexes of sVEGF-RI and [¹²⁵I]VEGF and separated by size exclusion chromatography.

[0010]FIG. 5—A 12.5% polyacrylamide electrophoretic gel is shown which demonstrates the high degree of purity obtained for sVEGF-RI.

[0011]FIG. 6—Cross-linked products of sVEGF-RI and [¹²⁵I]VEGF are shown at about 145 kDa, and at about 245 kDa.

[0012] FIGS. 7A and 7B—Analysis of VEGF binding to sVEGF-RI (A) and corresponding Scatchard plot (B).

[0013]FIG. 8—Inhibition of [¹²⁵I]VEGF binding to HUVECs by sVEGF-RI is demonstrated.

[0014]FIG. 9—Inhibition of VEGF-mediated mitogenesis on HUVECs is shown using sVEGF-RI.

[0015]FIG. 10—The nucleotide sequence encoding sVEGF-RII is shown.

[0016]FIG. 11—The amino acid sequence for sVEGF-RII is shown.

[0017]FIG. 12—The nucleotide sequence encoding sVEGF-RTMII is shown.

[0018]FIG. 13—The amino acid sequence forsVEGF-RTMII is shown.

[0019]FIG. 14—The nucleotide sequence encoding sVEGF-RTMI is shown.

[0020]FIG. 15—The amino acid sequence for sVEGF-RTMI is shown.

[0021]FIG. 16—A diagram of pmFLT is shown.

[0022]FIG. 17—A diagram of pKDRA is shown.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0023] The present invention relates to cDNA encoding a soluble VEGF receptor protein (sVEGF-R) which is isolated from VEGF receptor producing cells or is recombinantly engineered from VEGF receptor-encoding DNA. sVEGF-R, as used herein, refers to a protein which can specifically bind to a vascular endothelial cell growth factor without stimulating mitogenesis of vascular endothelial cells.

[0024] The amino acid sequence of FLT is known, [Shibuya, M. et al., (1990), Oncogene, 5, pp.519-524] and corresponds to the full length cell-associated VEGF tyrosine kinase receptor. Other VEGF receptors are known to exist. Other known VEGF receptors include, but are not limited to KDR [Terman (1991), supra., and Ternan (1992), supra.]. Mammalian cells capable of producing FLT, KDR and other VEGF receptors include, but are not limited to, vascular endothelial cells. Mammalian cell lines which produce FLT or KDR and other VEGF receptors include, but are not limited to, human endothelial cells. The preferred cells for the present invention include human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC).

[0025] Other cells and cell lines may also be suitable for use to isolate sVEGF-R cDNA. Selection of suitable cells may be done by screening for sVEGF-R binding activity on cell surfaces, in cell extracts or conditioned medium or by screening for gene expression by PCR or hybridization. Methods for detecting soluble receptor activity are well known in the art [Duan, D-S. R. et al., (1991) J.Biol.Chem., 266, pp.413-418] and measure the binding of labelled VEGF. Cells which possess VEGF binding activity in this assay may be suitable for the isolation of sVEGF-R cDNA.

[0026] Full length FLT producing cells such as human HUVEC cells (American Type Culture Collection, ATCC CRL 1730) [Hoshi, H. and McKeehan, W. L., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., (1984) 81, pp. 6413-6417] are grown according to the recommended culture conditions of the ATCC. Full length FLT, and KDR VEGF receptors as well as extracellular region (sVEGF-RI and sVEGF-RII) and extracellular region plus transmembrane region forms (sVEGF-RTMI and sVEGF-RTMII) are shown in FIG. 1. The full length receptor has an extracellular ligand binding region composed of about seven immunoglobulin-like domains, a membrane spanning sequence (transmembrane domain) and intracellular tyrosine kinase domains. The inhibitory forms of this receptor, which are the subject of the present invention, are also shown in FIG. 1 and lack the intracellular kinase domains, and for some inhibitors, the transmembrane sequence and the C-terminal most Ig-like extracellular domain.

[0027] Any of a variety of procedures may be used to molecularly clone sVEGF-R cDNA. These methods include, but are not limited to, direct functional expression of the sVEGF-R gene following the construction of an sVEGF-R-containing cDNA library in an appropriate expression vector system.

[0028] Another method is to screen a sVEGF-R-containing cDNA library constructed in a bacteriophage or plasmid shuttle vector with a labelled oligonucleotide probe designed from the predicted amino acid sequence of sVEGF-R. The preferred method consists of screening a sVEGF-R-containing cDNA library constructed in a bacteriophage or plasmid shuttle vector with a partial cDNA encoding at least part of the full length FLT protein. This partial cDNA is obtained by the specific PCR amplification of sVEGF-R DNA fragments through the design of oligonucleotide primers from the known sequence of the full length FLT-encoding DNA.

[0029] It is readily apparent to those skilled in the art that other types of libraries, as well as libraries constructed from other cells or cell types, may be useful for isolating sVEGF-R-encoding DNA. Other types of libraries include, but are not limited to, cDNA libraries derived from other cells or cell lines other than HUVECs and genomic DNA libraries.

[0030] It is readily apparent to those skilled in the art that suitable cDNA libraries may be prepared from cells or cell lines which have sVEGF-R activity. The selection of cells or cell lines for use in preparing a cDNA library to isolate sVEGF-R cDNA may be done by first measuring secreted sVEGF-R activity using the VEGF binding assay described fully herein.

[0031] Preparation of cDNA libraries can be performed by standard techniques well known in the art. Well known cDNA library construction techniques can be found for example, in Maniatis, T., Fritsch, E. F., Sambrook, J., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 1982).

[0032] It is also readily apparent to those skilled in the art that DNA encoding sVEGF-R may also be isolated from a suitable genomic DNA library. Construction of genomic DNA libraries can be performed by standard techniques well known in the art. Well known genomic DNA library construction techiques can be found in Maniatis, T., Fritsch, E. F., Sambrook, J. in Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manuel (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 1982).

[0033] Another means of obtaining sVEGF-R molecules is to recombinantly engineer them from DNA encoding the partial or complete amino acid sequence of a VEGF receptor. Examples of other VEGF receptors include, but are not limited to, KDR. Using recombinant DNA techniques, DNA molecules are constructed which encode at least a portion of the VEGF receptor capable of binding VEGF without stimulating mitogenesis. Standard recombinant DNA techniques are used such as those found in Maniatis, et al., supra.

[0034] Using one of the preferred methods of the present invention, cDNA clones encoding sVEGF-R are isolated in a two-stage approach employing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based technology and cDNA library screening. In the first stage, DNA oligonucleotides derived from the extracellular domain sequence information from the known full length FLT, KDR or other VEGF receptor is used to design degenerate oligonucleotide primers for the amplification of sVEGF-R-specific DNA fragments. In the second stage, these fragments are cloned to serve as probes for the isolation of complete sVEGF-R cDNA from a commercially available lambda gt10 cDNA library (Clontech) derived from HUVEC cells (ATCC CRL 1730).

[0035] These PCR derived products were used as hybridization probes for screening a lambda gt10 cDNA library derived from HUVECs (Clontech). Plating and plaque lifts of the library were performed by standard methods (T. Maniatis, E. F. Fritsch, J. Sambrook, Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 1982). The probes were random-primed labelled with ³²P-dCTP to high specific activity and a separate screening of the library (1×10⁶ plaques per screen) was conducted with each probe. The probes were added to hybridization buffer (50% formamide, 5× Denhardts, 6× SSC (1× SSC=0.15 M NaCl, 0.015 M Na₃citrate.2H₂O, pH 7.0), 0.1% SDS, 100 mg/ml salmon sperm DNA) at 1×10⁶ cpm/ml.

[0036] Four positively hybridizing phage were detected using the flt-specific probe. These positively hybridizing phage were observed to be less than full length fit.

[0037] Two fit cDNA clones of about 2.0 kb and 2.7 kb in length were subcloned into pGEM vectors (Promega) and bi-directionally sequenced in their entirety by the chain termination method (Sanger et al., (1977) P.N.A.S. USA, 74, pp. 5463-5467,) and shown to contain a single open reading frame of about 569 amino acids. Sequence analysis demonstrated that a portion of the 5′ fit coding region was missing from these clones. The remainder of the 5′ end was cloned using PCR and combined with the DNA of the clones lacking the 5′ end to yield a single open reading frame encoding about 687 amino acids.

[0038] The sequence for the cDNA encoding flt-derived sVEGF-RI is shown in Table 1, and was identified in clones 7 and 11. The deduced amino acid sequence of sVEGF-RI from the cloned cDNA is shown in Table 2. Inspection of the deduced amino acid sequence reveals the presence of a single, large open reading frame of 687 amino acids. By comparison with amino acid sequence of the full length FLT VEGF receptor, 31 amino acids are encoded at the C-terminal end of the cDNA which are different from those of FLT.

[0039] Using another of the preferred methods of the present invention, DNA encoding sVEGF-R is constructed from a DNA sequence encoding a VEGF receptor. For purposes of illustration, DNA encoding the VEGF receptor known as KDR was utilized. Using the receptor DNA sequence, a DNA molecule is constructed which encodes the extracellular domain of the receptor, or the VEGF binding domain only and is denoted sVEGF-RII. Restriction endonuclease cleavage sites are identified within the receptor DNA and can be utilized directly to excise the extracellular-encoding portion. In addition, PCR techniques as described above may be utilized to produce the desired portion of DNA. It is readily apparent to those skilled in the art that other techniques, which are standard in the art, may be utilized to produce sVEGF-R molecules in a manner analagous to those described above. Such techniques are found, for example, in Maniatis et al., supra.

[0040] Additional truncated forms of the VEGF receptor are constructed which contain the transmembrane region. Retention of the transmembrane may facilitate orientation of the inhibitor molecule at the target cell surface. Examples of transmembrane region containing inhibitor molecules include but are not limited to those shown in FIG. 1. sVEGF-RTMI and sVEGF-RTMII, as shown in FIG. 1, are FLT-related and KDR-related, respectively, transmembrane region containing receptor inhibitors. Construction of transmembrane region containing molecules, such as sVEGF-RTMI and sVEGF-RTMII, is done by standard techniques known in the art including but not limited to utilizing convenient restriction endonuclease cleavage sites or PCR techniques as described herein. It is readily understood by those skilled in the art that various forms of the inhibitors of a VEGF receptor, as disclosed herein, containing only the extracellular region or containing, in addition, the transmembrane region may be constructed which have substantially the same activity.

[0041] The cloned sVEGF-R cDNA obtained through the methods described above may be recombinantly expressed by molecular cloning into an expression vector containing a suitable promoter and other appropriate transcription regulatory elements, and transferred into prokaryotic or eukaryotic host cells to produce recombinant sVEGF-R. Techniques for such manipulations are fully described in Maniatis, T, et al., supra, and are well known in the art.

[0042] Expression vectors are defined herein as DNA sequences that are required for the transcription of cloned copies of genes and the translation of their mRNAs in an appropriate host. Such vectors can be used to express eukaryotic genes in a variety of hosts such as bacteria, bluegreen algae, fungal cells, yeast cells, plant cells, insect cells and animal cells.

[0043] Specifically designed vectors allow the shuttling of DNA between hosts such as bacteria-yeast or bacteria-animal or bacteria-insect cells. An appropriately constructed expression vector should contain: an origin of replication for autonomous replication in host cells, selectable markers, a limited number of useful restriction enzyme sites, a potential for high copy number, and active promoters. A promoter is defined as a DNA sequence that directs RNA polymerase to bind to DNA and initiate RNA synthesis. A strong promoter is one which causes mRNAs to be initiated at high frequency. Expression vectors may include, but are not limited to, cloning vectors, modified cloning vectors, specifically designed plasmids or viruses.

[0044] A variety of mammalian expression vectors may be used to express recombinant sVEGF-R in mammalian cells. Commercially available mammalian expression vectors which may be suitable for recombinant sVEGF-R expression, include but are not limited to, pMC1neo (Stratagene), pXT1 (Stratagene), pSG5 (Stratagene), EBO-pSV2-neo (ATCC 37593) pBPV-1(8-2) (ATCC 37110), pdBPV-MMTneo(342-12) (ATCC 37224), pRSVgpt (ATCC 37199), pRSVneo (ATCC 37198), pSV2-dhfr (ATCC 37146), pUCTag (ATCC 37460), and gZD35 (ATCC 37565).

[0045] DNA encoding sVEGF-R may also be cloned into an expression vector for expression in a recombinant host cell. Recombinant host cells may be prokaryotic or eukaryotic, including but not limited to bacteria, yeast, mammalian cells including but not limited to cell lines of human, bovine, porcine, monkey and rodent origin, and insect cells including but not limited to drosophila, moth, mosquito and armyworm derived cell lines. Cell lines derived from mammalian species which may be suitable and which are commercially available, include but are not limited to, CV-1 (ATCC CCL 70), COS-1 (ATCC CRL 1650), COS-7 (ATCC CRL 1651), CHO-K1 (ATCC CCL 61), 3T3 (ATCC CCL 92), NIH/3T3 (ATCC CRL 1658), HeLa (ATCC CCL 2), C127I (ATCC CRL 1616), BS-C-1 (ATCC CCL 26) and MRC-5 (ATCC CCL 171). Insect cell lines which may be suitable and are commercially available include but are not limited to 3M-S (ATCC CRL 8851) moth (ATCC CCL 80) mosquito (ATCC CCL 194 and 195; ATCC CRL 1660 and 1591) and armyworm (Sf9, ATCC CRL 1711).

[0046] The expression vector may be introduced into host cells via any one of a number of techniques including but not limited to transformation, transfection, liposome or protoplast fusion, and electroporation. The expression vector-containing cells are clonally propagated and individually analyzed to determine whether they produce sVEGF-R protein. Identification of sVEGF-R expressing host cell clones may be done by several means, including but not limited to immunological reactivity with anti-sVEGF-R antibodies, binding to radiolabelled VEGF, and the presence of host cell-secreted sVEGF-R activity.

[0047] Expression of sVEGF-R DNA may also be performed using in vitro produced synthetic mRNA. Synthetic mRNA can be efficiently translated in various cell-free systems, including but not limited to wheat germ extracts and reticulocyte extracts, as well as efficiently translated in cell based systems, including but not limited to microinjection into frog oocytes, with microinjection into frog oocytes being preferred.

[0048] Levels of sVEGF-R protein produced by host cells may be quantitated by immunoaffinity and/or ligand affinity techniques. sVEGF-R-specific affinity beads or sVEGF-R-specific antibodies are used to isolate ³⁵S-methionine labelled or unlabelled sVEGF-R protein. Labelled sVEGF-R protein is analyzed by SDS-PAGE. Unlabelled sVEGF-R protein is detected by Western blotting, ELISA or RIA assays employing sVEGF-R specific antibodies, or by ligand blotting with labelled VEGF.

[0049] Following expression of sVEGF-R in a recombinant host cell, sVEGF-R protein may be recovered to provide sVEGF-R in active form, capable of binding VEGF without stimulating mitogenesis. Several sVEGF-R purification procedures are available and suitable for use. sVEGF-R may be purified from cell lysates and extracts, or from conditioned culture medium, by various combinations of, or individual application of salt fractionation, ion exchange chromatography, size exclusion chromatography, hydroxylapatite adsorption chromatography, reversed phase chromatography, heparin sepharose chromatography, VEGF ligand affinity chromatography, and hydrophobic interaction chromatography.

[0050] In addition, recombinant sVEGF-R can be separated from other cellular proteins by use of an immuno-affinity column made with monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies specific for full length sVEGF-R, or polypeptide fragments of sVEGF-R.

[0051] Identification of sVEGF-RI—In an attempt to clone the VEGF receptor cDNA (flt) a HUVEC lgt10 cDNA library was screened with a DNA probe derived from the extracellular domain of the membrane bound or full length form of this receptor as shown in FIG. 1. Four incomplete clones, all lacking various lengths of 5′ coding sequence, were isolated from screening a total of 1×10⁶ plaques. Two of these isolates represent partial clones that were identical to full length flt, one of which contained the complete 3′ coding region of the form described by Shibuya et al., supra. The other two clones were identical to full length fit up to base pair number 2219 (Table 1 and FIG. 2) where they then diverged from full length flt. These clones (clone 7 and 11) coded for an additional unique 31 amino acids before the open reading frame is terminated by a TAA codon (Table 2 and FIG. 3).

[0052] Clone 7 and 11 coded for a protein with a predicted molecular mass of about 75 kDa containing 12 putative N-linked glycosylation sites. This version of the receptor was missing the transmembrane and intracellular kinase domains and thus coded for a natural soluble form of the VEGF receptor (sVEGF-RI). Further, the protein molecule predicted by sVEGF-RI has only the first six Ig-like domains, missing the one closest to the transmembrane sequence (FIG. 1). The 31 amino acids at the C-terminal end of sVEGF-RI contain two cysteine residues, but does not resemble an Ig domain.

[0053] Expression of sVEGF-RI in Sf9 cells—To analyze the binding and biological properties of this form of the receptor, the protein was expressed using a baculovirus expression system. Clone 7 was missing about 350 base pairs of coding sequence at the 5′ end. This region was cloned by PCR using the primers described above and in Example 1. A clone containing the complete coding region of sVEGF-RI was constructed by combining the 5′ PCR fragment with sVEGF-RI clone 7 which overlapped at a SacI site. The 5′ EcoRI site was then changed to a BamHI site and the full length sVEGF-RI was cloned into pBluebac III (Invitrogen) as a BamHI/BamHI fragment. A recombinant baculovirus P-3 stock containing the sVEGF-RI gene 3′ in relation to the polyhedrin promoter was then prepared as described herein.

[0054] Culture media from small scale infections were tested for the ability to form high molecular weight complexes with [¹²⁵I]VEGF. The labeled ligand and culture media from the baculovirus infected cells were combined and incubated. The reactions were then analyzed by size exclusion chromatography. When the wild-type infected culture medium was mixed with the radioactive ligand (FIG. 4) a single radioactive peak was observed. However, when the sVEGF-RI infected culture medium was used, a high molecular weight complex was formed, as evident by the appearance of a second peak in this reaction eluting near the void volume of the column. This experiment showed that the natural soluble form of the FLT VEGF receptor, sVEGF-RI, forms a high molecular weight complex with VEGF.

[0055] The recombinantly produced sVEGF-R is purified from the recombinant host cell extracts or cell culture fluid using heparin-sepharose column chromatography which specifically binds the sVEGF-R protein. The heparin-sepharose bound VEGF-R column is washed using a suitable buffer containing between b 0.1M and 0.6M NaCl which removes contaminating proteins without significant loss of sVEGF-R. The sVEGF-R is eluted from the heparin-sepharose column using a suitable buffer containing about 1M NaCl, yielding substantially purified sVEGF-R.

[0056] Binding of the sVEGF-RI to VEGF—The binding of ¹²⁵I-labelled VEGF to sVEGF-RI was characterized by crosslinking, and by complex formation with sVEGF-RI absorbed to 96 well plates.

[0057] The crosslinked products are shown in FIG. 6. The sVEGF-RI was cross-linked to [¹²⁵I]VEGF (lane 1); in the presence of unlabelled VEGF (lane 2) and unlabelled bFGF (lane 3). Two high molecular weight bands (about 145 kDa and 245 kDa) were formed in the sVEGF-RI and [¹²⁵I]VEGF containing reaction, and in the sVEGF-RI and [¹²⁵I]VEGF plus an excess of unlabelled bFGF reaction. The two high molecular weight bands were not present when sVEGF-RI was incubated with [¹²⁵I]VEGF plus an excess of unlabelled VEGF, demonstrating the specificity of sVEGF-RI for VEGF, and the ability of sVEGF-RI to form a dimer. The 145 kDa band is presumably a crosslinked complex containing one receptor molecule (about 100 kDa) and a VEGF dimer (about 46 kDa). As shown in FIG. 6 complexes containing two receptor molecules (about 245 kDA) were also observed. This suggests that each VEGF dimer can bind one or two receptor molecules and that the soluble form of the VEGF receptor may undergo ligand-induced dimerization.

[0058] The affinity of sVEGF-RI for VEGF was evaluated by absorbing sVEGF-RI to the surface of a 96 well plate, followed by blocking the nonspecific sites with 0.5% gelatin. Variable amounts of labeled ligand were added to each well. These results demonstrate that sVEGF-RI binds VEGF with high affinity with an apparent K_(d) of about 20 pM (FIG. 7). Since the soluble form of the receptor is missing the Ig domain closest to the transmembrane spanning region, this domain is not required for ligand binding.

[0059] The sVEGF-RI is shown to inhibit binding of VEGF to HUVECs by incubating cultured HUVECs with [¹²⁵I]VEGF and various amounts of sVEGF-RI. Following incubation, the cells are washed to remove unbound [¹²⁵I]VEGF. The cells are then solubilized and the amount of cell-associated ¹²⁵I is determined by gamma counter, which demonstrates the amount of [¹²⁵I]VEGF which was capable of binding to the cellular VEGF receptor in the presence of sVEGF-RI. Using this method, it is demonstrated that sVEGF-RI was capable of inhibiting [¹²⁵I]VEGF binding to HUVECs VEGF receptor (see FIG. 8).

[0060] Since sVEGF-RI was able to inhibit VEGF binding to cell receptors, it was then determined that sVEGF-RI could inhibit VEGF induced mitogenesis. Cells are preincubated with sVEGF-RI and then incubated with VEGF in the presence of [³H]thymidine. Following incubation, the amount of cellular DNA-incorporated [³H]thymidine is measured which indicates whether VEGF has induced mitogenesis and caused [³H]thymidine to be incorporated into cellular DNA. The presence of sVEGF-RI inhibits the ability of VEGF to stimulate mitogenesis as shown in FIG. 9.

[0061] The inhibitor of the present invention can be used for the inhibition of VEGF activity. The inhibitor can be used either topically or intravascularly. For topical applications the formulation would be applied directly at a rate of about 10 ng to about 1 mg/cm²/day. For intravaneous applications, the inhibitor is used at a rate of about 1 mg to about 10 mg/kg/day of body weight. For internal use, the formulation may be released directly into the region to be treated either from implanted slow release polymeric material or from slow release pumps or repeated injections. The release rate in either case is about 100 ng to about 100 mg/day/cm³.

[0062] For non-topical application the VEGF inhibitor is administered in combination with pharmaceutically acceptable carriers or diluents such as phosphate buffer, saline, phosphate buffered saline, Ringer's solution, and the like, in a pharmaceutical composition, according to standard pharmaceutical practice. For topical application, various pharmaceutical formulations are useful for the administration of the active compound of this invention. Such formulations include, but are not limited to, the following: ointments such as hydrophilic petrolatum or polyethylene glycol ointment; pastes which may contain gums such as xanthan gum; solutions such as alcoholic or aqueous solutions; gels such as aluminum hydroxide or sodium alginate gels; albumins such as human or animal albumins; collagens such as human or animal collagens; celluloses such as alkyl celluloses, hydroxy alkyl celluloses and alkylhydroxyalkyl celluloses, for example methylcellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, and hydroxypropyl cellulose; polyoxamers such as Pluronic® Polyols exemplified by Pluronic® F-127; tetronics such as tetronic 1508; and alginates such as sodium alginate.

[0063] The following examples are provided as illustrative of the present invention without, however, limiting the same thereto.

EXAMPLE 1

[0064] Cloning flt-related sVEGF-RI—A 580 base pair DNA probe for flt was obtained by PCR of the HUVEC phage library using the primers 5′ GCACCTTGGTTGTGGCTGAC 3′ (SEQ. ID. No.: 1) and 5′ TGGAATTCGTGCTGCTTCCTGGTCC 3′(SEQ. ID. No.: 2). The resulting DNA fragment was cloned into pGEM3Z as a XbaI/EcoRI fragment. The probe was prepared by the random priming method [Feinberg, A. P. and Vogelstein, B., (1983) Anal.Biochem., 132, pp.6-13] using the megaprime kit (Amersham) at a specific activity of 1×10⁷ cpm/ng. The HUVEC cDNA library was plated at a density of 5×10⁴ plaques/150 cm plate then about 1×10⁶ plaques were screened by hybridization as previously described [Maniatis, T. et al., supra]. Briefly, following prehybridization at 42° C. for 2 hours in 50% formamide, 5× SSC, 5× Denhardt's solution, 0.1% SDS, 100 mg/ml salmon sperm DNA (hybridization buffer) the filters were hybridized with the probe for 16 hours at 42° C. in hybridization buffer. The filters were washed one time for 15 min at room temperature in 2× SSC then three times at 55° C. in 0.1×SSC. Four positive plaques were identified and rescreened two additional times to obtain homogeneous isolates. Inserts were cloned into pGEM3Z for DNA sequence analysis. Two of these clones were identified which contained less than the full length flt coding region. DNA sequence analysis showed that these clones lacked the 5′ coding region of flt. The DNA sequence is shown in Table 1 and FIG. 2, and the deduced amino acid sequence is shown in Table 2 and FIG. 3. The 5′ end of flt was cloned by PCR using the primers 5′ GGAATTCCGCGCTCACCATGGTCAGC 3′ (SEQ.ID.NO.:3) and 5′ TTTGAATTCACCCGGCAGGGAATGACG 3′ (SEQ.ID.NO.:4). The PCR fragment generated with this set of primers was cloned into fit clone 7 as an EcoRI/SacI fragment. TABLE 1 GCGGACACTCCTCTCGGCTCCTCCCCGGCAGCGGCGGCGGCTCG (SEQ ID NO.:5) GAGCGGGCTCCGGGGCTCGGGTGCAGCGGCCAGCGGGCCTGGC GGCGAGGATTACCCGGGGAAGTGGTTGTCTCCTGGCTGGAGCC GCGAGACGGGCGCTCAGGGCGCGGGGCCGGCGGCGGCGAACG AGAGGACGGACTCTGGCGGCCGGGTCGTTGGCCGGGGGAGCGC GGGCACCGGGCGAGCAGGCCGCGTCGCGCTCACC ATG GTC AGC TAC TGG GAC ACC GGG GTC CTG CTG TGC GCG CTG CTC AGC TGT CTG CTT CTC ACA GGA TCT AGT TCA GGT TCA AAA TTA AAA GAT CCT GAA CTG AGT TTA AAA GGC ACC CAG CAC ATC ATG CAA GCA GGC CAG ACA CTG CAT CTC CAA TGC AGG GGG GAA GCA GCC CAT AAA TGG TCT TTG CCT GAA ATG GTG AGT AAG GAA AGG GAA AGG CTG AGC ATA ACT AAA TCT GCC TGT GGA AGA AAT GGC AAA CAA TTC TGC AGT ACT TTA ACC TTG AAC ACA GCT CAA GCA AAC CAC ACT GGC TTC TAC AGC TGC AAA TAT CTA GCT GTA CCT ACT TCA AAG AAG AAG GAA AGA GAA TCT GCA ATC TAT ATA TTT ATT AGT GAT ACA GGT AGA CCT TTC GTA GAG ATG TAC AGT GAA ATC CCC GAA ATT ATA CAC ATG ACT GAA GGA AGG GAG CTC GTC ATT CCC TGC CGG GTT ACG TCA CCT AAC ATC ACT GTT ACT TTA AAA AAG TTT CCA CTT GAC ACT TTG ATC CCT GAT GGA AAA CGC ATA ATC TGG GAC AGT AGA AAG GGC TTC ATC ATA TCA AAT GCA ACG TAC AAA GAA ATA GGG CTT GTG ACC TGT GAA GCA ACA GTC AAT GGG CAT TTG TAT AAG ACA AAC TAT GTG ACA CAT CGA CAA ACC AAT ACA ATC ATA GAT GTC CAA ATA AGC ACA CCA CGC CCA GTC AAA TTA CTT AGA GGC CAT ACT CTT GTC CTC AAT TGT ACT GCT ACC ACT CCC TTG AAC ACG AGA GTT CAA ATG ACC TGG AGT TAC CCT GAT GAA AAA AAT AAG AGA GCT TCC GTA AGG CGA CGAATT GAC CAA AGC AAT TCC CAT GCC AAC ATA TTC TAC AGT GTT CTTACT ATT GAC AAA ATG CAG GAC AAA GAC AAA GGA CTT TAT ACT TGTCGT GTA AGG AGT GGA CCA TCA TTC AAA TCT GTT AAC ACC TCA GTGCAT ATA TAT GAT AAA GCA TTC ATC ACT GTG AAA CAT CGA AAA CAGCAG GTG CTT GAA ACC GTA GCT GGC AAG CGG TCT TAC CGG CTC TCTATG AAA GTG AAG GCA TTT CCC TCG CCG GAA GTT GTA TGG TTA AAAGAT GGG TTA CCT GCG ACT GAG AAA TCT GCT CGC TAT TTG ACT CGT GGC TAC TCG TTA ATT ATC AAG GAC GTA ACT GAA GAG GAT GCA GGG AAT TAT ACA ATC TTG CTG AGC ATA AAA CAG TCA AAT GTG TTT AAA AAC CTC ACT GCC ACT CTA ATT GTC AAT GTG AAA CCC CAG ATT TAC GAA AAG GCC GTG TCA TCG TTT CCA GAC CCG GCT CTC TAC CCA CTG GGC AGC AGA CAA ATC CTG ACT TGT ACC GCA TAT GGT ATC CCT CAA CCT ACA ATC AAG TGG TTC TGG CAC CCC TGT AAC CAT AAT CAT TCC GAA GCA AGG TGT GAC TTT TGT TCC AAT AAT GAA GAG TCC TTT ATC CTG GAT GCT GAC AGC AAC ATG GGA AAC AGA ATT GAG AGC ATC ACT GAG GGG ATG GCA ATA ATA GAA GGA AAG AAT AAG ATG GCT AGC ACC TTG GTT GTG GCT GAC TGT AGA ATT TCT GGA ATC TAC ATT TGC ATA GCT TCC AAT AAA GTT GGG ACT GTG GGA AGA AAC ATA AGC TTT TAT ATC ACA GAT GTG CCA AAT GGG TTT CAT GTT AAC TTG GAA AAA ATG CCG ACG GAA GGA GAG GAC CTG AAA CTG TCT TGC ACA GTT AAC AAG TTC TTA TAC AGA GAG GTT ACT TGG ATT TTA CTG CGG ACA GTT AAT AAC AGA ACA ATG CAC TAC AGT ATT AGC AAG CAA AAA ATG GCC ATC ACT AAG GAG CAC TCC ATC ACT CTT AAT CTT ACC ATC ATG AAT GTT TCC CTG CAA GAT TCA GGC ACC TAT GCC TGC AGA GCC AGG AAT GTA TAC ACA GGG GAA GAA ATC CTC CAG AAG AAA GAA ATT ACA ATC AGA GTT GAG CAC TGC AAC AAA AAG GCT GTT TTC TCT CGG ATC TCC AAA TTT AAA AGC ACA AGG AAT GAT TGT ACC ACACAAAGTAATGTAAAACATTAAAGGACTCATTAAAAAGTA ACAGTTGTCTCATATCATCTTGATTTATTGTCACTGTTGCTAAC TTTCAGGCTCGGAGGAGATGCTCCTCCCAAAATGAGTTCGGAG ATGATAGCAGTAATAATGAGACCCCCGGGCTCCAGCTCTGGGC CCCCCATTCAGGCCGAGGGGGCTGCTCCGGGGGGCCGACTTGG TGCACGTTTGGATTTGGAGGATCCCTGCACTGCCTTCTCTGTGT TTGTTGCTCTTGCTGTTTTCTCCTGCCTGATAAACAACAACTTG GGATGATCCTTTCCATTTTGATGCCAACCTCTTTTTATTTTTAA GCGGCGCCCTATAGT

[0065] TABLE 2 Met Val Ser Tyr Trp Asp Thr Gly Val Leu Leu Cys Ala Leu Leu Ser (SEQ ID NO.:6) Cys Leu Leu Leu Thr Gly Ser Ser Ser Gly Ser Lys Leu Lys Asp Pro Glu Leu Ser Leu Lys Gly Thr Gln His Ile Met Gln Ala Gly Gln Thr Leu His Leu Gln Cys Arg Gly Glu Ala Ala His Lys Trp Ser Leu Pro Glu Met Val Ser Lys Glu Ser Glu Arg Leu Ser Ile Thr Lys Ser Ala Cys Gly Arg Asn Gly Lys Gln Phe Cys Ser Thr Leu Thr Len Asn Thr Ala Gln Ala Asn His Thr Gly Phe Tyr Ser Cys Lys Tyr Len Ala Val Pro Thr Ser Lys Lys Lys Glu Thr Gln Ser Ala Ile Tyr Ile Phe Ile Ser Asp Thr Gly Arg Pro Phe Val Gln Met Tyr Ser Glu Ile Pro Gln Ile Ile His Met Thr Gln Gly Arg Glu Leu Val Ile Pro Cys Arg Val Thr Ser Pro Asn Ile Thr Val Thr Leu Lys Lys Phe Pro Leu Asp Thr Leu Ile Pro Asp Gly Lys Arg Ile Ile Trp Asp Ser Arg Lys Gly Phe Ile Ile Ser Asn Ala Thr Tyr Lys Glu Ile Gly Leu Leu Thr Cys Gln Ala Thr Val Asn Gly His Leu Tyr Lys Thr Asn Tyr Leu Thr His Arg Gln Thr Asn Thr Ile Ile Asp Val Gln Ile Ser Thr Pro Arg Pro Val Lys Leu Leu Arg Gly His Thr Leu Val Leu Asn Cys Thr Ala Thr Thr Pro Leu Asn Thr Arg Val Gln Met Thr Trp Ser Tyr Pro Asp Gln Lys Asn Lys Arg Ala Ser Val Arg Arg Arg Ile Asp Gln Ser Asn Ser His Ala Asn Ile Phe Tyr Ser Val Leu Thr Ile Asp Lys Met Gln Asn Lys Asp Lys Gly Leu Tyr Thr Cys Arg Val Arg Ser Gly Pro Ser Phe Lys Ser Val Asn Thr Ser Val His Ile Tyr Asp Lys Ala Phe Ile Thr Val Lys His Arg Lys Gln Gln Val Leu Gln Thr Val Ala Gly Lys Arg Ser Tyr Arg Leu Ser Met Lys Val Lys Ala Phe Pro Ser Pro Glu Val Val Trp Leu Lys Asp Gly Leu Pro Ala Thr Glu Lys Ser Ala Arg Tyr Leu Thr Arg Gly Tyr Ser Leu Ile Ile Lys Asp Val Thr Glu Glu Asp Ala Gly Asn Tyr Thr Ile Leu Leu Ser Ile Lys Gln Ser Asn Val Phe Lys Asn Leu Thr Ala Thr Leu Ile Val Asn Val Lys Pro Gln Ile Tyr Glu Lys Ala Val Ser Ser Phe Pro Asp Pro Ala Leu Tyr Pro Leu Gly Ser Arg Gln Ile Leu Thr Cys Thr Ala Tyr Gly Ile Pro Gln Pro Thr Ile Lys Trp Phe Trp His Pro Cys Asn His Asn His Ser Glu Ala Arg Cys Asp Phe Cys Ser Asn Asn Glu Glu Ser Phe Ile Leu Asp Ala Asp Ser Asn Met Gly Asn Arg Ile Glu Ser Ile Thr Gln Arg Met Ala Ile Ile Glu Gly Lys Asn Lys Met Ala Ser Thr Leu Val Val Ala Asp Ser Arg Ile Ser Gly Ile Tyr Ile Cys Ile Ala Ser Asn Lys Val Gly Thr Val Gly Arg Asn Ile Ser Phe Tyr Ile Thr Asp Val Pro Asn Gly Phe His Val Asn Leu Glu Lys Met Pro Thr Glu Gly Gln Asp Leu Lys Leu Ser Cys Thr Val Asn Lys Phe Leu Tyr Arg Asp Val Thr Trp Ile Leu Leu Arg Thr Val Asn Asn Arg Thr Met His Tyr Ser Ile Ser Lys Gln Lys Met Ala Ile Thr Lys Glu His Ser Ile Thr Leu Asn Leu Thr Ile Met Asn Val Ser Leu Gln Asp Ser Gly Thr Tyr Ala Cys Arg Ala Arg Asn Val Tyr Thr Gly Glu Glu Ile Leu Gln Lys Lys Glu Ile Thr Ile Arg Gly Glu His Cys Asn Lys Lys Ala Val Phe Ser Arg Ile Ser Lys Phe Lys Ser Thr Arg Asn Asp Cys Thr Thr Gln Ser Asn Val Lys His . . .

EXAMPLE 2

[0066] Expression of sVEGF-RI in Sf9 insect cells—The full length sequence encoding sVEGF-RI was cloned as an EcoRI/BamHI fragment into pGEM3Z. The EcoRI site was then modified to a BamHI site and cloned into pBlueBac III 3′ of the polyhedrin promoter (psFLTblue). This plasmid was transfected into Sf9 armyworm cells using liposomes. After 48 hours the medium from the transfected cells which contains recombinant polyhedrin virus particles, was harvested. Dilutions (10³-10⁴ fold) of the virus were prepared and plaque purified in soft agar containing 150 mg/ml 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-β-D-galactoside. Recombinant plaques were identified by blue color and used to infect Sf9 cells (5×10⁵ cells/well) in 12 well plates. Medium (100 ml) from polyhedrin minus infections was used to prepare P-2 viral stocks by infecting 2.5×10⁶ cells in a T-25 flask. Large scale high titer P-3 viral stocks were then prepared by infecting Sf9 cells (500 ml at 2×10⁶ cells/ml) with 5 ml of the P-2 stock then incubating at 27° C. for 5-6 days and the medium was harvested by centrifugation. Protein expression was accomplished by infecting cells at a density of 2-2.5×10⁶ cells/ml with a multiplicity of infection of 5-10. Twenty four hours after infection the cells were changed to a serum free medium (SF900II, Gibco BRL), incubated for an additional 48 hours and the medium was collected. This conditioned medium contains the recombinantly expressed sVEGF-RI protein.

EXAMPLE 3

[0067] Iodination of VEGF and PIGF—¹²⁵I-labeled human recombinant VEGF was prepared by the chloramine T method (Hunter, W. M. and Greenwood, F. C., (1962) Nature (London), 194, pp. 495-496). Briefly, 1 mg of VEGF in 30% acetonitrile/0.1% trifluroacetic acid was adjusted to pH 7.1 by the addition of ⅓ volume of 0.4 M sodium phosphate buffer, pH 7.1. Freshly dissolved chloramine T (4 ml of a 2 mg/ml stock in 0.1 M sodium phosphate buffer, pH 7.1) was added to the VEGF solution and reacted for 45 seconds at room temperature (total volume of 150 ml). The reaction was stopped by the addition of 50 ml of 10 mM KI and 50 ml of 2 mg/ml meta bisufite. The labeled ligand was separated from the free ¹²⁵I by gel filtration on a 0.7×15 cm Sephadex G-25 column equilibrated in PBS with 1 mg/ml gelatin. Fractions were counted in a Packard g counter, aliquoted and stored at −70° C. VEGF was labeled to a specific activity of 5×10⁵ to 1×10⁶ cpm/ng. Recombinant human PlGF was iodinated by the chloramine-T method as described herein, to specific activity between approximately 3×10⁵-9×10⁵ cpm/ng. After iodination, PlGF was stored at 4° C. in PBS containing 1 mg/ml gelatin.

[0068] Gel Filtration Chromatography—Receptor-ligand complex was formed by incubating 10 ml of ¹²⁵I-labeled VEGF (10⁵ cpm) with 100 ml of either wild-type or baculovirus sVEGF-RI-containing, infected Sf9 cell culture medium overnight at room temperature. The reaction products were separated on a Sephacryl S200 gel filtration column (0.7×25 cm) equilibrated in PBS, 1 mg/ml gelatin, at a flow rate of 15 ml/hr. Fractions (0.75 ml) were collected and analyzed in a g counter. Receptor-ligand complexes pass quickly through the column while the free labelled VEGF passes through more slowly. The results of this experiment shown in FIG. 4 demonstrate the formation of a high molecular weight complex between labelled VEGF and sVEGF-RI protein. This shows that sVEGF-RI binds VEGF.

[0069] Crosslinking—Purified sVEGF-RI (1-10 ng) was added to 25 ml of binding buffer (Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's medium (DME), 25 mM HEPES, pH 7.5, 0.3% gelatin), and 1×10⁵ cpm of [¹²⁵I]-VEGF was added (FIG. 6, lane 1) with either 200 ng of unlabelled VEGF (lane 2) or bFGF (lane 3), then incubated 2 to 16 hours at room temperature. Bis(sulfosuccinimidyl)suberate (Pierce) crosslinker was added to a final concentration of 1 mM. The reaction was stopped after 15 min by the addition of boiling SDS PAGE sample buffer. The crosslinked products were separated by SDS PAGE on a 7.5% acrylamide gel and analyzed either by autoradiography or a phosphoimager. The results are shown in FIG. 6 and demonstrate that sVEGF-RI binds labelled VEGF by the appearance of two bands of about 145 kDa and 245 kDa. The 145 kDa band consists of one sVEGF-RI molecule and one VEGF molecule (Monomer, M.). The 245 kDa band apparently consists of two sVEGF-RI molecules and one VEGF dimer (D). Free VEGF ligand (L) dimers migrated at about 45 kDA.

[0070] Purified Ex-KDR and sFLT were each allowed to bind either [¹²⁵I]VEGF or [¹²⁵I]PlGF at 25° C. for 1 hr in a final volume of 25 μl in binding buffer (10 mM Hepes, pH 7.4, 0.01% BSA, 100 mM NaCl) with or without an excess of the appropriate unlabeled ligand. Competition binding was accomplished by incubation in the presence of various concentrations of unlabeled VEGF (0.1-400 nM). The reactions were then crosslinked with 1 mM BS³ at 25° C. for 15 min followed by the addition of boiling Laemmli sample buffer (10). The crosslinked products were analyzed by SDS/7.5% PAGE and the complexes were visualized using a Phosphohnager (Molecular Dynamics, Sunnyvale, Calif.). In the competition crosslinking experiments the amount of radioactivity contained in the Ex-KDR/[¹²⁵I]VEGF complex as well as the uncomplexed [¹²⁵I]VEGF were quantified using the PhosphoImager.

[0071] Binding assay—The binding of sVEGF-RI to VEGF was analyzed using a 96 well plate assay as described by Duan, D-S. R. et al., supra. Briefly, sVEGF-RI, 50 to 200 ml partially purified by Mono Q chromatography (Pharmacia), was diluted to 10 ml in 25 mM TRIS, pH 7.4, 100 mM NaCl, 20 mM NH₄HCO_(3.) Aliquots (100 ml) were absorbed to the surface of a 96 well plate for 18 hours at 4° C., the plates were then washed twice with blocking buffer (DME, 25 mM HEPES, pH 7.5, 0.5% gelatin) and the nonspecific sites were blocked in the same buffer for 6 hours at 4° C. The plate was then washed twice in binding buffer. Various amounts of [¹²⁵I]VEGF were added to the wells in a final volume of 100 ml/well and incubated for 2 hours at room temperature. The wells were washed three times with 100 ml of binding buffer, the bound protein was solubilized with 100 ml of 1% SDS, 0.5% BSA and counted in a g counter. The results, shown in FIG. 7, were analyzed by the method of Scatchard [Scatchard, G., (1949) Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., 51, pp. 660-672]. The analysis demonstrates that sVEGF-RI retains high affinity binding for VEGF with a K_(d) value of about 20 pM. This clearly demonstrates that sVEGF-RI, lacking the transmembrane region and adjacent Ig-like domain, binds VEGF with high affinity and that these regions are not required for VEGF binding.

[0072] Purified Ex-KDR and sFLT were each allowed to bind either [¹²⁵I]VEGF or [¹²⁵I]PlGF at 25° C. for 1 hour in a final volume of 25 μl in binding buffer (10 mM Hepes, pH 7.4, 0.01% BSA, 100 mM NaCl) with or without an excess of the appropriate unlabeled ligand. Competition binding was accomplished by incubation in the presence of various concentrations of unlabeled VEGF (0.1-400 nM). The reactions were then crosslinked with 1 mM BS³ at 25° C. for 15 min followed by the addition of boiling Laemmli sample buffer. The crosslinked products were analyzed by SDS/7.5% PAGE and the complexes were visualized using a Phosphohnager (Molecular Dynamics, Sunnyvale, Calif.). In the competition crosslinking experiments the amount of radioactivity contained in the Ex-KDR/[¹²⁵I]VEGF complex as well as the uncomplexed [¹²⁵I]VEGF were quantified using the PhosphoImager.

[0073] To determine if sFLT and Ex-KDR bind VEGF and PlGF with high affinity, purified sFLT and Ex-KDR were each incubated with either [¹²⁵I]VEGF or [¹²⁵I]PlGF, covalently crosslinked and high molecular mass complexes were resolved by SDS/PAGE. sFLT formed high molecular mass complexes with both VEGF and PlGF whereas Ex-KDR formed complexes with VEGF but not with PlGF. The positions of the monomer (one VEGF dimer bound to one receptor molecule) and dimer (one VEGF dimer bound to two receptor molecules) were as expected. These radiolabeled complexes were competed by an excess of the same unlabeled VEGF or PlGF and thus are specific. PlGF was able to compete for VEGF binding to the sFLT receptor and VEGF competes for PlGF binding to this receptor. PlGF was not able to compete for [¹²⁵I]VEGF binding to Ex-KDR.

[0074] The affinity of VEGF for Ex-KDR was determined by a crosslinking competition binding assay since the Ex-KDR receptor binds poorly to 96 well plates. A constant amount of [¹²⁵I]VEGF was bound to Ex-KDR in the presence of increasing concentrations of unlabeled VEGF. The concentration of unlabeled VEGF required to displace 50% of the total [¹²⁵I]VEGF binding is approximately 1 nM, which is similar to the apparent K_(d) for the membrane form of KDR.

[0075] Competition Between PIGF and VEGF for Binding to sFLT

[0076] Competitive binding of VEGF and PIGF to sFLT was analyzed by the 96 well plate binding assay. A constant amount of either [¹²⁵I]VEGF or [¹²⁵I]PlGF was bound to immobilized sFLT in the presence of increasing amounts of either unlabeled VEGF or PlGF. In comparison, 50% of the binding of [¹²⁵I]PlGF to sFLT was displaced by only 10 pM of VEGF. Approximately 110 pM of unlabeled PlGF displaced 50% of [¹²⁵I]PlGF binding to sFLT in agreement with saturation binding experiments. However, an approximately 5-fold higher concentration of PIGF (˜550 pM) was required to displace 50% of the [¹²⁵I]VEGF binding to sFLT. These data indicate that VEGF and PlGF compete for the same site on sFLT at which VEGF binds with ˜4-fold higher affinity than PlGF. Crosslinking competition experiments with sFLT gave similar results.

[0077] Here we show that VEGF binds to the extracellular domains of both FLT and KDR with high affinity. PlGF, however, only binds to the extracellular domain of FLT with high affinity and does not bind to the equivalent extracellular region of KDR. VEGF is able to compete efficiently for PlGF binding to sFLT whereas PlGF competes less efficiently for VEGF binding. These binding data demonstrate that VEGF complexes with sFLT somewhat tighter than does PlGF. Competitive binding infers that the VEGF and PlGF sites on sFLT are probably either overlapping or identical. Thus, sFLT will inhibit both PIGF and VEGF function.

EXAMPLE 4

[0078] Inhibition of VEGF binding by sVEGF-RI—The ability of sVEGF-RI to inhibit VEGF binding to HUVECs was tested. HUVECs were plated at 50,000 cells/well in 24 well plates precoated with gelatin, and allowed to grow to confluence. A constant amount of [¹²⁵I]VEGF (100,000 cpm) was mixed with various amounts of partially purified sVEGF-RI in binding buffer, in a total volume of 200 μl and preincubated at room temperature for 1 hour. Samples were added to the cells and incubated for 4 hours at 4° C. with shaking. The medium was then aspirated and the cells were washed three times with binding buffer. The bound radioactivity was solubilized with 50 mM TRIS-HCl, pH 8.0, 150 mM NaCl, 1% NP40, 1% BSA and counted in a γ counter.

[0079] The results are shown in FIG. 8. At the highest concentration of sVEGF-RI, VEGF binding to HUVECs was reduced by 70%. It may, however, be difficult to completely inhibit binding to the cellular membrane bound receptor since one molecule of sVEGF-R bound to a VEGF dimer may be able to bind to cell associated receptor to form an inactive (sVEGF-RI)-VEGF-(membrane spanning VEGF receptor) complex.

EXAMPLE 5

[0080] Inhibition of VEGF mediated mitogenesis by sVEGF-RI

[0081] Mitogenic inhibition—Since sVEGF-RI was able to inhibit VEGF binding to endothelial cells, it was then determined that the soluble receptor could inhibit VEGF induced mitogenesis in HUVECs. HUVECs were plated in gelatin coated 96 well plates at a density of 4000 cells/well in 100 ml of DME supplemented with 10% heat inactivated fetal calf serum plus antibiotics (penicillin G, 100 units/ml; streptomycin sulfate, 100 mg/ml). After 16 hours the medium was changed and test samples were added, cells were preincubated with a variable amount of purified sVEGF-RI for 15 minutes at 37° C. before growth factor (10 ng/ml) was added. The cells were incubated for 24 hours then [methyl-³H]thymidine (0.8 mCi/well; 20 Ci/mmol:1 Ci=37 GBq, final specific activity of 0.8 mCi/nmole) was added followed by incubated for an additional 72 hours at 37° C. under 5% CO₂. The cells were then washed twice with Hank's balanced salt solution adjusted to pH 7.5 with 25 mM Hepes, 0.1% BSA. The cells were then lysed, the DNA was solubilized with 0.2 M Na₂CO₃, 0.1 M NaOH, and [³H]thymidine incorporation was quantified by scintillation counting. The results are shown in FIG. 9. sVEGF-RI was able to completely inhibit VEGF induced [³H]thymidine incorporation in HUVECs.

EXAMPLE 6

[0082] Purification of baculovirus expressed sVEGF-RI from Sf9 cells—Culture medium from Sf9 cells infected with a baculovirus construct designed to express sVEGF-RI (Example 2) was chromatographed through a heparin Sepharose CL-6B (Pharmacia) column (0.7×4 cm). The column was washed with 5 volumes of 10 mM Na-phosphate buffer, pH 6.2, 0.1 M NaCl, followed by 6 ml of 10 mM Na-phosphate buffer, pH 6.2, 0.6 M NaCl. The sVEGF-RI was eluted with 10 mM Na-phosphate buffer, pH 6.2, 1.0 M NaCl. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was performed which demonstrated greater than 90% purity (as judged by coomassie blue staining) of the recombinantly produced sVEGF-R (FIG. 5). The identity of the protein was confirmed by N-terminal protein sequence analysis. The actual N-terminus (Ser Lys Leu . . . ) of the recombinant protein differs by two amino acids from that predicted by Shibuya et al., supra. (Ser-Ser-Ser . . . ). The peptidase cleavage site in sVEGF-RI produced in Sf9 cells was between residues gly-26 and ser-27.

EXAMPLE 7

[0083] Construction of KDR-related sVEGF-R—Soluble forms of KDR (a known VEGF receptor) [Terman, B. I. et al., (1991) Oncogene 6, pp. 1677-1683; Terman, B. I. et al., (1992) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 187, pp. 1579-1586] may exist naturally but have not yet been identified. A soluble form of KDR is recombinantly constructed by modifying its coding sequence by PCR using the primers 1) 5′ TTTTGGATCCCTGCAGACAGATCTACGTTTGAGAACC 3′(SEQ. ID. NO.:7) and 2) 5′ TTTTGGATCCTTAACGCTCTAGGACTGTGAGC 3′ (SEQ. ID. NO.:8), and pKDRA (the Xhol/EcoRl fragment coding for the extracellular and transmembrane domain of KDR cloned into the EcoRI site of pGEM 7Z obtained from Promega) as a template (FIG. 17). This generated a translation stop codon after amino acid residue number 663 of KDR which corresponds to the extracellular domain of full length KDR. This modified fragment is then used to replace the Pstl/BamHl fragment of pKDRA generating a truncated form of the KDR gene (FIG. 10) which codes for a soluble receptor denoted sVEGF-RII (FIG. 11). The Xhol site at base pair number 257 is then changed to a BamHl site by standard cloning techniques. Another truncated form of the KDR receptor is created with primer 1 shown above, and primer 3) 5′ TTTTGGATCCAACGGTCCCTAGGATGATGAC 3′, (SEQ. ID. NO.:9) (FIG. 12). This form of KDR, denoted sVEGF-RTMII, is truncated at the C-terminal side of the transmembrane domain and therefore retains the transmembrane region (FIG. 13). A similar form of the FLT receptor is generated by PCR using the primers 4) 5′ AGCACCTTGGTTGTGGCTGACTC 3′ (SEQ. ID. NO.: 10) and 5) 5′ TTTTGGATCCTTAGATAAGGAGGGTTAATAGG 3′ (SEQ. ID. NO.: 11) and plasmid pmFLT (full length flt cloned into the EcoRI site of pGEM3Z obtained from Promega) as a template (FIG. 16). The 780 base pair PCR fragment can then be cloned together with the EcoRI/Xbal fragment from pmFLT to produce an EcoRl/BAMHl fragment (FIG. 14) encoding a truncated form of FLT (denoted sVEGF-RTMI) which retains the transmembrane domain but lacks the cytoplasmic domain (FIG. 15). The EcoRl site at the 5′ end of the gene is then modified to a BamHl site. The resulting truncated forms of KDR and FLT are then cloned into pBluebaclll (Stratagene) for expression in Sf9 insect cells. Characterization of these constructed truncated forms of VEGF receptors is accomplished by the techniques used to characterize sVEGF-RI as in Examples 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

EXAMPLE 8

[0084] Identification and Partial Purification of a Soluble VEGF Binding Protein

[0085] A mRNA encoding a soluble version of Flt was expressed in HUVECs. The recombinant sFlt protein, when expressed in Sf9 insect cells (BVsFlt), was found to bind tightly to heparin Sepharose. To determine if sFlt protein was expressed by HUVECs, conditioned medium from cultured HUVECs was filtered through a 0.22 μm membrane and passed over a heparin sepharose column. The heparin column was eluted with a step gradient and fractions were tested for binding to [¹²⁵I] VEGF by covalent crosslinking. VEGF binding activity eluted at similar NaCl concentrations as the BVsFlt protein and was found in the 0.6-1.2 M NaCl step fraction. An equal volume of EndoUV medium (endothelial cell growth medium) not conditioned was chromatographed and had no VEGF binding activity in the 0.6-1.2 M NaCl fraction. The VEGF binding activity from HUVECs when crosslinked to labeled VEGF formed complexes which migrate slower on SDS/PAGE than VEGF complexes formed with BVsFlt. VEGF binding fractions were pooled and further separated by cation exchange chromatography with a linear NaCl gradient. Again, VEGF binding activity from the endothelial cell conditioned medium elutes at a similar position as BVsFlt.

[0086] The chromatography data shows that the partially purified HUVEC VEGF binding protein behaves similar to BVsFlt. To determine if this VEGF binding protein is related to Flt, antibodies against peptides based on the N-terminus and third immunoglobulin-like domain in the extracellular region of Flt were prepared. Fractions from the mono S column that produced high molecular weight complexes when covalently crosslinked to [¹²⁵I] VEGF were analyzed by Western blot analysis. These data show that a 116 kDa protein band which co-elutes with VEGF binding activity was detected by both antibodies, thus the binding activity isolated from human endothelial cells is a soluble form of Flt.

1 18 1 20 DNA Artificial Sequence oligonucleotide 1 gcaccttggt tgtggctgac 20 2 25 DNA Artificial Sequence oligonucleotide 2 tggaattcgt gctgcttcct ggtcc 25 3 26 DNA Artificial Sequence oligonucleotide 3 ggaattccgc gctcaccatg gtcagc 26 4 27 DNA Artificial Sequence oligonucleotide 4 tttgaattca cccggcaggg aatgacg 27 5 2651 DNA Homo sapien CDS (250)...(2313) 5 gcggacactc ctctcggctc ctccccggca gcggcggcgg ctcggagcgg gctccggggc 60 tcgggtgcag cggccagcgg gcctggcggc gaggattacc cggggaagtg gttgtctcct 120 ggctggagcc gcgagacggg cgctcagggc gcggggccgg cggcggcgaa cgagaggacg 180 gactctggcg gccgggtcgt tggccggggg agcgcgggca ccgggcgagc aggccgcgtc 240 gcgctcacc atg gtc agc tac tgg gac acc ggg gtc ctg ctg tgc gcg ctg 291 Met Val Ser Tyr Trp Asp Thr Gly Val Leu Leu Cys Ala Leu 1 5 10 ctc agc tgt ctg ctt ctc aca gga tct agt tca ggt tca aaa tta aaa 339 Leu Ser Cys Leu Leu Leu Thr Gly Ser Ser Ser Gly Ser Lys Leu Lys 15 20 25 30 gat cct gaa ctg agt tta aaa ggc acc cag cac atc atg caa gca ggc 387 Asp Pro Glu Leu Ser Leu Lys Gly Thr Gln His Ile Met Gln Ala Gly 35 40 45 cag aca ctg cat ctc caa tgc agg ggg gaa gca gcc cat aaa tgg tct 435 Gln Thr Leu His Leu Gln Cys Arg Gly Glu Ala Ala His Lys Trp Ser 50 55 60 ttg cct gaa atg gtg agt aag gaa agc gaa agg ctg agc ata act aaa 483 Leu Pro Glu Met Val Ser Lys Glu Ser Glu Arg Leu Ser Ile Thr Lys 65 70 75 tct gcc tgt gga aga aat ggc aaa caa ttc tgc agt act tta acc ttg 531 Ser Ala Cys Gly Arg Asn Gly Lys Gln Phe Cys Ser Thr Leu Thr Leu 80 85 90 aac aca gct caa gca aac cac act ggc ttc tac agc tgc aaa tat cta 579 Asn Thr Ala Gln Ala Asn His Thr Gly Phe Tyr Ser Cys Lys Tyr Leu 95 100 105 110 gct gta cct act tca aag aag aag gaa aca gaa tct gca atc tat ata 627 Ala Val Pro Thr Ser Lys Lys Lys Glu Thr Glu Ser Ala Ile Tyr Ile 115 120 125 ttt att agt gat aca ggt aga cct ttc gta gag atg tac agt gaa atc 675 Phe Ile Ser Asp Thr Gly Arg Pro Phe Val Glu Met Tyr Ser Glu Ile 130 135 140 ccc gaa att ata cac atg act gaa gga agg gag ctc gtc att ccc tgc 723 Pro Glu Ile Ile His Met Thr Glu Gly Arg Glu Leu Val Ile Pro Cys 145 150 155 cgg gtt acg tca cct aac atc act gtt act tta aaa aag ttt cca ctt 771 Arg Val Thr Ser Pro Asn Ile Thr Val Thr Leu Lys Lys Phe Pro Leu 160 165 170 gac act ttg atc cct gat gga aaa cgc ata atc tgg gac agt aga aag 819 Asp Thr Leu Ile Pro Asp Gly Lys Arg Ile Ile Trp Asp Ser Arg Lys 175 180 185 190 ggc ttc atc ata tca aat gca acg tac aaa gaa ata ggg ctt ctg acc 867 Gly Phe Ile Ile Ser Asn Ala Thr Tyr Lys Glu Ile Gly Leu Leu Thr 195 200 205 tgt gaa gca aca gtc aat ggg cat ttg tat aag aca aac tat ctc aca 915 Cys Glu Ala Thr Val Asn Gly His Leu Tyr Lys Thr Asn Tyr Leu Thr 210 215 220 cat cga caa acc aat aca atc ata gat gtc caa ata agc aca cca cgc 963 His Arg Gln Thr Asn Thr Ile Ile Asp Val Gln Ile Ser Thr Pro Arg 225 230 235 cca gtc aaa tta ctt aga ggc cat act ctt gtc ctc aat tgt act gct 1011 Pro Val Lys Leu Leu Arg Gly His Thr Leu Val Leu Asn Cys Thr Ala 240 245 250 acc act ccc ttg aac acg aga gtt caa atg acc tgg agt tac cct gat 1059 Thr Thr Pro Leu Asn Thr Arg Val Gln Met Thr Trp Ser Tyr Pro Asp 255 260 265 270 gaa aaa aat aag aga gct tcc gta agg cga cga att gac caa agc aat 1107 Glu Lys Asn Lys Arg Ala Ser Val Arg Arg Arg Ile Asp Gln Ser Asn 275 280 285 tcc cat gcc aac ata ttc tac agt gtt ctt act att gac aaa atg cag 1155 Ser His Ala Asn Ile Phe Tyr Ser Val Leu Thr Ile Asp Lys Met Gln 290 295 300 aac aaa gac aaa gga ctt tat act tgt cgt gta agg agt gga cca tca 1203 Asn Lys Asp Lys Gly Leu Tyr Thr Cys Arg Val Arg Ser Gly Pro Ser 305 310 315 ttc aaa tct gtt aac acc tca gtg cat ata tat gat aaa gca ttc atc 1251 Phe Lys Ser Val Asn Thr Ser Val His Ile Tyr Asp Lys Ala Phe Ile 320 325 330 act gtg aaa cat cga aaa cag cag gtg ctt gaa acc gta gct ggc aag 1299 Thr Val Lys His Arg Lys Gln Gln Val Leu Glu Thr Val Ala Gly Lys 335 340 345 350 cgg tct tac cgg ctc tct atg aaa gtg aag gca ttt ccc tcg ccg gaa 1347 Arg Ser Tyr Arg Leu Ser Met Lys Val Lys Ala Phe Pro Ser Pro Glu 355 360 365 gtt gta tgg tta aaa gat ggg tta cct gcg act gag aaa tct gct cgc 1395 Val Val Trp Leu Lys Asp Gly Leu Pro Ala Thr Glu Lys Ser Ala Arg 370 375 380 tat ttg act cgt ggc tac tcg tta att atc aag gac gta act gaa gag 1443 Tyr Leu Thr Arg Gly Tyr Ser Leu Ile Ile Lys Asp Val Thr Glu Glu 385 390 395 gat gca ggg aat tat aca atc ttg ctg agc ata aaa cag tca aat gtg 1491 Asp Ala Gly Asn Tyr Thr Ile Leu Leu Ser Ile Lys Gln Ser Asn Val 400 405 410 ttt aaa aac ctc act gcc act cta att gtc aat gtg aaa ccc cag att 1539 Phe Lys Asn Leu Thr Ala Thr Leu Ile Val Asn Val Lys Pro Gln Ile 415 420 425 430 tac gaa aag gcc gtg tca tcg ttt cca gac ccg gct ctc tac cca ctg 1587 Tyr Glu Lys Ala Val Ser Ser Phe Pro Asp Pro Ala Leu Tyr Pro Leu 435 440 445 ggc agc aga caa atc ctg act tgt acc gca tat ggt atc cct caa cct 1635 Gly Ser Arg Gln Ile Leu Thr Cys Thr Ala Tyr Gly Ile Pro Gln Pro 450 455 460 aca atc aag tgg ttc tgg cac ccc tgt aac cat aat cat tcc gaa gca 1683 Thr Ile Lys Trp Phe Trp His Pro Cys Asn His Asn His Ser Glu Ala 465 470 475 agg tgt gac ttt tgt tcc aat aat gaa gag tcc ttt atc ctg gat gct 1731 Arg Cys Asp Phe Cys Ser Asn Asn Glu Glu Ser Phe Ile Leu Asp Ala 480 485 490 gac agc aac atg gga aac aga att gag agc atc act cag cgc atg gca 1779 Asp Ser Asn Met Gly Asn Arg Ile Glu Ser Ile Thr Gln Arg Met Ala 495 500 505 510 ata ata gaa gga aag aat aag atg gct agc acc ttg gtt gtg gct gac 1827 Ile Ile Glu Gly Lys Asn Lys Met Ala Ser Thr Leu Val Val Ala Asp 515 520 525 tct aga att tct gga atc tac att tgc ata gct tcc aat aaa gtt ggg 1875 Ser Arg Ile Ser Gly Ile Tyr Ile Cys Ile Ala Ser Asn Lys Val Gly 530 535 540 act gtg gga aga aac ata agc ttt tat atc aca gat gtg cca aat ggg 1923 Thr Val Gly Arg Asn Ile Ser Phe Tyr Ile Thr Asp Val Pro Asn Gly 545 550 555 ttt cat gtt aac ttg gaa aaa atg ccg acg gaa gga gag gac ctg aaa 1971 Phe His Val Asn Leu Glu Lys Met Pro Thr Glu Gly Glu Asp Leu Lys 560 565 570 ctg tct tgc aca gtt aac aag ttc tta tac aga gac gtt act tgg att 2019 Leu Ser Cys Thr Val Asn Lys Phe Leu Tyr Arg Asp Val Thr Trp Ile 575 580 585 590 tta ctg cgg aca gtt aat aac aga aca atg cac tac agt att agc aag 2067 Leu Leu Arg Thr Val Asn Asn Arg Thr Met His Tyr Ser Ile Ser Lys 595 600 605 caa aaa atg gcc atc act aag gag cac tcc atc act ctt aat ctt acc 2115 Gln Lys Met Ala Ile Thr Lys Glu His Ser Ile Thr Leu Asn Leu Thr 610 615 620 atc atg aat gtt tcc ctg caa gat tca ggc acc tat gcc tgc aga gcc 2163 Ile Met Asn Val Ser Leu Gln Asp Ser Gly Thr Tyr Ala Cys Arg Ala 625 630 635 agg aat gta tac aca ggg gaa gaa atc ctc cag aag aaa gaa att aca 2211 Arg Asn Val Tyr Thr Gly Glu Glu Ile Leu Gln Lys Lys Glu Ile Thr 640 645 650 atc aga ggt gag cac tgc aac aaa aag gct gtt ttc tct cgg atc tcc 2259 Ile Arg Gly Glu His Cys Asn Lys Lys Ala Val Phe Ser Arg Ile Ser 655 660 665 670 aaa ttt aaa agc aca agg aat gat tgt acc aca caa agt aat gta aaa 2307 Lys Phe Lys Ser Thr Arg Asn Asp Cys Thr Thr Gln Ser Asn Val Lys 675 680 685 cat taa aggactcatt aaaaagtaac agttgtctca tatcatcttg atttattgtc 2363 His * actgttgcta actttcaggc tcggaggaga tgctcctccc aaaatgagtt cggagatgat 2423 agcagtaata atgagacccc cgggctccag ctctgggccc cccattcagg ccgagggggc 2483 tgctccgggg ggccgacttg gtgcacgttt ggatttggag gatccctgca ctgccttctc 2543 tgtgtttgtt gctcttgctg ttttctcctg cctgataaac aacaacttgg gatgatcctt 2603 tccattttga tgccaacctc tttttatttt taagcggcgc cctatagt 2651 6 687 PRT Homo sapien 6 Met Val Ser Tyr Trp Asp Thr Gly Val Leu Leu Cys Ala Leu Leu Ser 1 5 10 15 Cys Leu Leu Leu Thr Gly Ser Ser Ser Gly Ser Lys Leu Lys Asp Pro 20 25 30 Glu Leu Ser Leu Lys Gly Thr Gln His Ile Met Gln Ala Gly Gln Thr 35 40 45 Leu His Leu Gln Cys Arg Gly Glu Ala Ala His Lys Trp Ser Leu Pro 50 55 60 Glu Met Val Ser Lys Glu Ser Glu Arg Leu Ser Ile Thr Lys Ser Ala 65 70 75 80 Cys Gly Arg Asn Gly Lys Gln Phe Cys Ser Thr Leu Thr Leu Asn Thr 85 90 95 Ala Gln Ala Asn His Thr Gly Phe Tyr Ser Cys Lys Tyr Leu Ala Val 100 105 110 Pro Thr Ser Lys Lys Lys Glu Thr Glu Ser Ala Ile Tyr Ile Phe Ile 115 120 125 Ser Asp Thr Gly Arg Pro Phe Val Glu Met Tyr Ser Glu Ile Pro Glu 130 135 140 Ile Ile His Met Thr Glu Gly Arg Glu Leu Val Ile Pro Cys Arg Val 145 150 155 160 Thr Ser Pro Asn Ile Thr Val Thr Leu Lys Lys Phe Pro Leu Asp Thr 165 170 175 Leu Ile Pro Asp Gly Lys Arg Ile Ile Trp Asp Ser Arg Lys Gly Phe 180 185 190 Ile Ile Ser Asn Ala Thr Tyr Lys Glu Ile Gly Leu Leu Thr Cys Glu 195 200 205 Ala Thr Val Asn Gly His Leu Tyr Lys Thr Asn Tyr Leu Thr His Arg 210 215 220 Gln Thr Asn Thr Ile Ile Asp Val Gln Ile Ser Thr Pro Arg Pro Val 225 230 235 240 Lys Leu Leu Arg Gly His Thr Leu Val Leu Asn Cys Thr Ala Thr Thr 245 250 255 Pro Leu Asn Thr Arg Val Gln Met Thr Trp Ser Tyr Pro Asp Glu Lys 260 265 270 Asn Lys Arg Ala Ser Val Arg Arg Arg Ile Asp Gln Ser Asn Ser His 275 280 285 Ala Asn Ile Phe Tyr Ser Val Leu Thr Ile Asp Lys Met Gln Asn Lys 290 295 300 Asp Lys Gly Leu Tyr Thr Cys Arg Val Arg Ser Gly Pro Ser Phe Lys 305 310 315 320 Ser Val Asn Thr Ser Val His Ile Tyr Asp Lys Ala Phe Ile Thr Val 325 330 335 Lys His Arg Lys Gln Gln Val Leu Glu Thr Val Ala Gly Lys Arg Ser 340 345 350 Tyr Arg Leu Ser Met Lys Val Lys Ala Phe Pro Ser Pro Glu Val Val 355 360 365 Trp Leu Lys Asp Gly Leu Pro Ala Thr Glu Lys Ser Ala Arg Tyr Leu 370 375 380 Thr Arg Gly Tyr Ser Leu Ile Ile Lys Asp Val Thr Glu Glu Asp Ala 385 390 395 400 Gly Asn Tyr Thr Ile Leu Leu Ser Ile Lys Gln Ser Asn Val Phe Lys 405 410 415 Asn Leu Thr Ala Thr Leu Ile Val Asn Val Lys Pro Gln Ile Tyr Glu 420 425 430 Lys Ala Val Ser Ser Phe Pro Asp Pro Ala Leu Tyr Pro Leu Gly Ser 435 440 445 Arg Gln Ile Leu Thr Cys Thr Ala Tyr Gly Ile Pro Gln Pro Thr Ile 450 455 460 Lys Trp Phe Trp His Pro Cys Asn His Asn His Ser Glu Ala Arg Cys 465 470 475 480 Asp Phe Cys Ser Asn Asn Glu Glu Ser Phe Ile Leu Asp Ala Asp Ser 485 490 495 Asn Met Gly Asn Arg Ile Glu Ser Ile Thr Gln Arg Met Ala Ile Ile 500 505 510 Glu Gly Lys Asn Lys Met Ala Ser Thr Leu Val Val Ala Asp Ser Arg 515 520 525 Ile Ser Gly Ile Tyr Ile Cys Ile Ala Ser Asn Lys Val Gly Thr Val 530 535 540 Gly Arg Asn Ile Ser Phe Tyr Ile Thr Asp Val Pro Asn Gly Phe His 545 550 555 560 Val Asn Leu Glu Lys Met Pro Thr Glu Gly Glu Asp Leu Lys Leu Ser 565 570 575 Cys Thr Val Asn Lys Phe Leu Tyr Arg Asp Val Thr Trp Ile Leu Leu 580 585 590 Arg Thr Val Asn Asn Arg Thr Met His Tyr Ser Ile Ser Lys Gln Lys 595 600 605 Met Ala Ile Thr Lys Glu His Ser Ile Thr Leu Asn Leu Thr Ile Met 610 615 620 Asn Val Ser Leu Gln Asp Ser Gly Thr Tyr Ala Cys Arg Ala Arg Asn 625 630 635 640 Val Tyr Thr Gly Glu Glu Ile Leu Gln Lys Lys Glu Ile Thr Ile Arg 645 650 655 Gly Glu His Cys Asn Lys Lys Ala Val Phe Ser Arg Ile Ser Lys Phe 660 665 670 Lys Ser Thr Arg Asn Asp Cys Thr Thr Gln Ser Asn Val Lys His 675 680 685 7 37 DNA Artificial Sequence oligonucleotide 7 ttttggatcc ctgcagacag atctacgttt gagaacc 37 8 32 DNA Artificial Sequence oligonucleotide 8 ttttggatcc ttaacgctct aggactgtga gc 32 9 31 DNA Artificial Sequence oligonucleotide 9 ttttggatcc aacggtccct aggatgatga c 31 10 23 DNA Artificial Sequence oligonucleotide 10 agcaccttgg ttgtggctga ctc 23 11 32 DNA Artificial Sequence oligonucleotide 11 ttttggatcc ttagataagg agggttaata gg 32 12 661 PRT Homo sapien 12 Ser Lys Leu Lys Asp Pro Glu Leu Ser Leu Lys Gly Thr Gln His Ile 1 5 10 15 Met Gln Ala Gly Gln Thr Leu His Leu Gln Cys Arg Gly Glu Ala Ala 20 25 30 His Lys Trp Ser Leu Pro Glu Met Val Ser Lys Glu Ser Glu Arg Leu 35 40 45 Ser Ile Thr Lys Ser Ala Cys Gly Arg Asn Gly Lys Gln Phe Cys Ser 50 55 60 Thr Leu Thr Leu Asn Thr Ala Gln Ala Asn His Thr Gly Phe Tyr Ser 65 70 75 80 Cys Lys Tyr Leu Ala Val Pro Thr Ser Lys Lys Lys Glu Thr Glu Ser 85 90 95 Ala Ile Tyr Ile Phe Ile Ser Asp Thr Gly Arg Pro Phe Val Glu Met 100 105 110 Tyr Ser Glu Ile Pro Glu Ile Ile His Met Thr Glu Gly Arg Glu Leu 115 120 125 Val Ile Pro Cys Arg Val Thr Ser Pro Asn Ile Thr Val Thr Leu Lys 130 135 140 Lys Phe Pro Leu Asp Thr Leu Ile Pro Asp Gly Lys Arg Ile Ile Trp 145 150 155 160 Asp Ser Arg Lys Gly Phe Ile Ile Ser Asn Ala Thr Tyr Lys Glu Ile 165 170 175 Gly Leu Leu Thr Cys Glu Ala Thr Val Asn Gly His Leu Tyr Lys Thr 180 185 190 Asn Tyr Leu Thr His Arg Gln Thr Asn Thr Ile Ile Asp Val Gln Ile 195 200 205 Ser Thr Pro Arg Pro Val Lys Leu Leu Arg Gly His Thr Leu Val Leu 210 215 220 Asn Cys Thr Ala Thr Thr Pro Leu Asn Thr Arg Val Gln Met Thr Trp 225 230 235 240 Ser Tyr Pro Asp Glu Lys Asn Lys Arg Ala Ser Val Arg Arg Arg Ile 245 250 255 Asp Gln Ser Asn Ser His Ala Asn Ile Phe Tyr Ser Val Leu Thr Ile 260 265 270 Asp Lys Met Gln Asn Lys Asp Lys Gly Leu Tyr Thr Cys Arg Val Arg 275 280 285 Ser Gly Pro Ser Phe Lys Ser Val Asn Thr Ser Val His Ile Tyr Asp 290 295 300 Lys Ala Phe Ile Thr Val Lys His Arg Lys Gln Gln Val Leu Glu Thr 305 310 315 320 Val Ala Gly Lys Arg Ser Tyr Arg Leu Ser Met Lys Val Lys Ala Phe 325 330 335 Pro Ser Pro Glu Val Val Trp Leu Lys Asp Gly Leu Pro Ala Thr Glu 340 345 350 Lys Ser Ala Arg Tyr Leu Thr Arg Gly Tyr Ser Leu Ile Ile Lys Asp 355 360 365 Val Thr Glu Glu Asp Ala Gly Asn Tyr Thr Ile Leu Leu Ser Ile Lys 370 375 380 Gln Ser Asn Val Phe Lys Asn Leu Thr Ala Thr Leu Ile Val Asn Val 385 390 395 400 Lys Pro Gln Ile Tyr Glu Lys Ala Val Ser Ser Phe Pro Asp Pro Ala 405 410 415 Leu Tyr Pro Leu Gly Ser Arg Gln Ile Leu Thr Cys Thr Ala Tyr Gly 420 425 430 Ile Pro Gln Pro Thr Ile Lys Trp Phe Trp His Pro Cys Asn His Asn 435 440 445 His Ser Glu Ala Arg Cys Asp Phe Cys Ser Asn Asn Glu Glu Ser Phe 450 455 460 Ile Leu Asp Ala Asp Ser Asn Met Gly Asn Arg Ile Glu Ser Ile Thr 465 470 475 480 Gln Arg Met Ala Ile Ile Glu Gly Lys Asn Lys Met Ala Ser Thr Leu 485 490 495 Val Val Ala Asp Ser Arg Ile Ser Gly Ile Tyr Ile Cys Ile Ala Ser 500 505 510 Asn Lys Val Gly Thr Val Gly Arg Asn Ile Ser Phe Tyr Ile Thr Asp 515 520 525 Val Pro Asn Gly Phe His Val Asn Leu Glu Lys Met Pro Thr Glu Gly 530 535 540 Glu Asp Leu Lys Leu Ser Cys Thr Val Asn Lys Phe Leu Tyr Arg Asp 545 550 555 560 Val Thr Trp Ile Leu Leu Arg Thr Val Asn Asn Arg Thr Met His Tyr 565 570 575 Ser Ile Ser Lys Gln Lys Met Ala Ile Thr Lys Glu His Ser Ile Thr 580 585 590 Leu Asn Leu Thr Ile Met Asn Val Ser Leu Gln Asp Ser Gly Thr Tyr 595 600 605 Ala Cys Arg Ala Arg Asn Val Tyr Thr Gly Glu Glu Ile Leu Gln Lys 610 615 620 Lys Glu Ile Thr Ile Arg Gly Glu His Cys Asn Lys Lys Ala Val Phe 625 630 635 640 Ser Arg Ile Ser Lys Phe Lys Ser Thr Arg Asn Asp Cys Thr Thr Gln 645 650 655 Ser Asn Val Lys His 660 13 664 PRT Homo sapien 13 Met Gln Ser Lys Val Leu Leu Ala Val Ala Leu Trp Leu Cys Val Glu 1 5 10 15 Thr Arg Ala Ala Ser Val Gly Leu Pro Ser Val Ser Leu Asp Leu Pro 20 25 30 Arg Leu Ser Ile Gln Lys Asp Ile Leu Thr Ile Lys Ala Asn Thr Thr 35 40 45 Leu Gln Ile Thr Cys Arg Gly Gln Arg Asp Leu Asp Trp Leu Trp Pro 50 55 60 Asn Asn Gln Ser Gly Ser Glu Gln Arg Val Glu Val Thr Glu Cys Ser 65 70 75 80 Asp Gly Leu Phe Cys Lys Thr Leu Thr Ile Pro Lys Val Ile Gly Asn 85 90 95 Asp Thr Gly Ala Tyr Lys Cys Phe Tyr Arg Glu Thr Asp Leu Ala Ser 100 105 110 Val Ile Tyr Val Tyr Val Gln Asp Tyr Arg Ser Pro Phe Ile Ala Ser 115 120 125 Val Ser Asp Gln His Gly Val Val Tyr Ile Thr Glu Asn Lys Asn Lys 130 135 140 Thr Val Val Ile Pro Cys Leu Gly Ser Ile Ser Asn Leu Asn Val Ser 145 150 155 160 Leu Cys Ala Arg Tyr Pro Glu Lys Arg Phe Val Pro Asp Gly Asn Arg 165 170 175 Ile Ser Trp Asp Ser Lys Lys Gly Phe Thr Ile Pro Ser Tyr Met Ile 180 185 190 Ser Tyr Ala Gly Met Val Phe Cys Glu Ala Lys Ile Asn Asp Glu Ser 195 200 205 Tyr Gln Ser Ile Met Tyr Ile Val Val Val Val Gly Tyr Arg Ile Tyr 210 215 220 Asp Val Val Leu Ser Pro Ser His Gly Ile Glu Leu Ser Val Gly Glu 225 230 235 240 Lys Leu Val Leu Asn Cys Thr Ala Arg Thr Glu Leu Asn Val Gly Ile 245 250 255 Asp Phe Asn Trp Glu Tyr Pro Ser Ser Lys His Gln His Lys Lys Leu 260 265 270 Val Asn Arg Asp Leu Lys Thr Gln Ser Gly Ser Glu Met Lys Lys Phe 275 280 285 Leu Ser Thr Leu Thr Ile Asp Gly Val Thr Arg Ser Asp Gln Gly Leu 290 295 300 Tyr Thr Cys Ala Ala Ser Ser Gly Leu Met Thr Lys Lys Asn Ser Thr 305 310 315 320 Phe Val Arg Val His Glu Lys Pro Phe Val Ala Phe Gly Ser Gly Met 325 330 335 Glu Ser Leu Val Glu Ala Thr Val Gly Glu Arg Val Arg Ile Pro Ala 340 345 350 Lys Tyr Leu Gly Tyr Pro Pro Pro Glu Ile Lys Trp Tyr Lys Asn Gly 355 360 365 Ile Pro Leu Glu Ser Asn His Thr Ile Lys Ala Gly His Val Leu Thr 370 375 380 Ile Met Glu Val Ser Glu Arg Asp Thr Gly Asn Tyr Thr Val Ile Leu 385 390 395 400 Thr Asn Pro Ile Ser Lys Glu Lys Gln Ser His Val Val Ser Leu Val 405 410 415 Val Tyr Val Pro Pro Gln Ile Gly Glu Lys Ser Leu Ile Ser Pro Val 420 425 430 Asp Ser Tyr Gln Tyr Gly Thr Thr Gln Thr Leu Thr Cys Thr Val Tyr 435 440 445 Ala Ile Pro Pro Pro His His Ile His Trp Tyr Trp Gln Leu Glu Glu 450 455 460 Glu Cys Ala Asn Glu Pro Ser Gln Ala Val Ser Val Thr Asn Pro Tyr 465 470 475 480 Pro Cys Glu Glu Trp Arg Ser Val Glu Asp Phe Gln Gly Gly Asn Lys 485 490 495 Ile Ala Val Asn Lys Asn Gln Phe Ala Leu Ile Glu Gly Lys Asn Lys 500 505 510 Thr Val Ser Thr Leu Val Ile Gln Ala Ala Asn Val Ser Ala Leu Tyr 515 520 525 Lys Cys Glu Ala Val Asn Lys Val Gly Arg Gly Glu Arg Val Ile Ser 530 535 540 Phe His Val Thr Arg Gly Pro Glu Ile Thr Leu Gln Pro Asp Met Gln 545 550 555 560 Pro Thr Glu Gln Glu Ser Val Ser Leu Trp Cys Thr Ala Asp Arg Ser 565 570 575 Thr Phe Glu Asn Leu Thr Trp Tyr Lys Leu Gly Pro Gln Pro Leu Pro 580 585 590 Ile His Val Gly Glu Leu Pro Thr Pro Val Cys Lys Asn Leu Asp Thr 595 600 605 Leu Trp Lys Leu Asn Ala Thr Met Phe Ser Asn Ser Thr Asn Asp Ile 610 615 620 Leu Ile Met Glu Leu Lys Asn Ala Ser Leu Gln Asp Gln Gly Asp Tyr 625 630 635 640 Val Cys Leu Ala Gln Asp Arg Lys Thr Lys Lys Arg His Cys Val Val 645 650 655 Arg Gln Leu Thr Val Leu Glu Arg 660 14 780 PRT Homo sapien 14 Met Val Ser Tyr Trp Asp Thr Gly Val Leu Leu Cys Ala Leu Leu Ser 1 5 10 15 Cys Leu Leu Leu Thr Gly Ser Ser Ser Gly Ser Lys Leu Lys Asp Pro 20 25 30 Glu Leu Ser Leu Lys Gly Thr Gln His Ile Met Gln Ala Gly Gln Thr 35 40 45 Leu His Leu Gln Cys Arg Gly Glu Ala Ala His Lys Trp Ser Leu Pro 50 55 60 Glu Met Val Ser Lys Glu Ser Glu Arg Leu Ser Ile Thr Lys Ser Ala 65 70 75 80 Cys Gly Arg Asn Gly Lys Gln Phe Cys Ser Thr Leu Thr Leu Asn Thr 85 90 95 Ala Gln Ala Asn His Thr Gly Phe Tyr Ser Cys Lys Tyr Leu Ala Val 100 105 110 Pro Thr Ser Lys Lys Lys Glu Thr Glu Ser Ala Ile Tyr Ile Phe Ile 115 120 125 Ser Asp Thr Gly Arg Pro Phe Val Glu Met Tyr Ser Glu Ile Pro Glu 130 135 140 Ile Ile His Met Thr Glu Gly Arg Glu Leu Val Ile Pro Cys Arg Val 145 150 155 160 Thr Ser Pro Asn Ile Thr Val Thr Leu Lys Lys Phe Pro Leu Asp Thr 165 170 175 Leu Ile Pro Asp Gly Lys Arg Ile Ile Trp Asp Ser Arg Lys Gly Phe 180 185 190 Ile Ile Ser Asn Ala Thr Tyr Lys Glu Ile Gly Leu Leu Thr Cys Glu 195 200 205 Ala Thr Val Asn Gly His Leu Tyr Lys Thr Asn Tyr Leu Thr His Arg 210 215 220 Gln Thr Asn Thr Ile Ile Asp Val Gln Ile Ser Thr Pro Arg Pro Val 225 230 235 240 Lys Leu Leu Arg Gly His Thr Leu Val Leu Asn Cys Thr Ala Thr Thr 245 250 255 Pro Leu Asn Thr Arg Val Gln Met Thr Trp Ser Tyr Pro Asp Glu Lys 260 265 270 Asn Lys Arg Ala Ser Val Arg Arg Arg Ile Asp Gln Ser Asn Ser His 275 280 285 Ala Asn Ile Phe Tyr Ser Val Leu Thr Ile Asp Lys Met Gln Asn Lys 290 295 300 Asp Lys Gly Leu Tyr Thr Cys Arg Val Arg Ser Gly Pro Ser Phe Lys 305 310 315 320 Ser Val Asn Thr Ser Val His Ile Tyr Asp Lys Ala Phe Ile Thr Val 325 330 335 Lys His Arg Lys Gln Gln Val Leu Glu Thr Val Ala Gly Lys Arg Ser 340 345 350 Tyr Arg Leu Ser Met Lys Val Lys Ala Phe Pro Ser Pro Glu Val Val 355 360 365 Trp Leu Lys Asp Gly Leu Pro Ala Thr Glu Lys Ser Ala Arg Tyr Leu 370 375 380 Thr Arg Gly Tyr Ser Leu Ile Ile Lys Asp Val Thr Glu Glu Asp Ala 385 390 395 400 Gly Asn Tyr Thr Ile Leu Leu Ser Ile Lys Gln Ser Asn Val Phe Lys 405 410 415 Asn Leu Thr Ala Thr Leu Ile Val Asn Val Lys Pro Gln Ile Tyr Glu 420 425 430 Lys Ala Val Ser Ser Phe Pro Asp Pro Ala Leu Tyr Pro Leu Gly Ser 435 440 445 Arg Gln Ile Leu Thr Cys Thr Ala Tyr Gly Ile Pro Gln Pro Thr Ile 450 455 460 Lys Trp Phe Trp His Pro Cys Asn His Asn His Ser Glu Ala Arg Cys 465 470 475 480 Asp Phe Cys Ser Asn Asn Glu Glu Ser Phe Ile Leu Asp Ala Asp Ser 485 490 495 Asn Met Gly Asn Arg Ile Glu Ser Ile Thr Gln Arg Met Ala Ile Ile 500 505 510 Glu Gly Lys Asn Lys Met Ala Ser Thr Leu Val Val Ala Asp Ser Arg 515 520 525 Ile Ser Gly Ile Tyr Ile Cys Ile Ala Ser Asn Lys Val Gly Thr Val 530 535 540 Gly Arg Asn Ile Ser Phe Tyr Ile Thr Asp Val Pro Asn Gly Phe His 545 550 555 560 Val Asn Leu Glu Lys Met Pro Thr Glu Gly Glu Asp Leu Lys Leu Ser 565 570 575 Cys Thr Val Asn Lys Phe Leu Tyr Arg Asp Val Thr Trp Ile Leu Leu 580 585 590 Arg Thr Val Asn Asn Arg Thr Met His Tyr Ser Ile Ser Lys Gln Lys 595 600 605 Met Ala Ile Thr Lys Glu His Ser Ile Thr Leu Asn Leu Thr Ile Met 610 615 620 Asn Val Ser Leu Gln Asp Ser Gly Thr Tyr Ala Cys Arg Ala Arg Asn 625 630 635 640 Val Tyr Thr Gly Glu Glu Ile Leu Gln Lys Lys Glu Ile Thr Ile Arg 645 650 655 Asp Gln Glu Ala Pro Tyr Leu Leu Arg Asn Leu Ser Asp His Thr Val 660 665 670 Ala Ile Ser Ser Ser Thr Thr Leu Asp Cys His Ala Asn Gly Val Pro 675 680 685 Glu Pro Gln Ile Thr Trp Phe Lys Asn Asn His Lys Ile Gln Gln Glu 690 695 700 Pro Gly Ile Ile Leu Gly Pro Gly Ser Ser Thr Leu Phe Ile Glu Arg 705 710 715 720 Val Thr Glu Glu Asp Glu Gly Val Tyr His Cys Lys Ala Thr Asn Gln 725 730 735 Lys Gly Ser Val Glu Ser Ser Ala Tyr Leu Thr Val Gln Gly Thr Ser 740 745 750 Asp Lys Ser Asn Leu Glu Leu Ile Thr Leu Thr Cys Thr Cys Val Ala 755 760 765 Ala Thr Leu Phe Trp Leu Leu Leu Thr Leu Leu Ile 770 775 780 15 789 PRT Homo sapien 15 Met Gln Ser Lys Val Leu Leu Ala Val Ala Leu Trp Leu Cys Val Glu 1 5 10 15 Thr Arg Ala Ala Ser Val Gly Leu Pro Ser Val Ser Leu Asp Leu Pro 20 25 30 Arg Leu Ser Ile Gln Lys Asp Ile Leu Thr Ile Lys Ala Asn Thr Thr 35 40 45 Leu Gln Ile Thr Cys Arg Gly Gln Arg Asp Leu Asp Trp Leu Trp Pro 50 55 60 Asn Asn Gln Ser Gly Ser Glu Gln Arg Val Glu Val Thr Glu Cys Ser 65 70 75 80 Asp Gly Leu Phe Cys Lys Thr Leu Thr Ile Pro Lys Val Ile Gly Asn 85 90 95 Asp Thr Gly Ala Tyr Lys Cys Phe Tyr Arg Glu Thr Asp Leu Ala Ser 100 105 110 Val Ile Tyr Val Tyr Val Gln Asp Tyr Arg Ser Pro Phe Ile Ala Ser 115 120 125 Val Ser Asp Gln His Gly Val Val Tyr Ile Thr Glu Asn Lys Asn Lys 130 135 140 Thr Val Val Ile Pro Cys Leu Gly Ser Ile Ser Asn Leu Asn Val Ser 145 150 155 160 Leu Cys Ala Arg Tyr Pro Glu Lys Arg Phe Val Pro Asp Gly Asn Arg 165 170 175 Ile Ser Trp Asp Ser Lys Lys Gly Phe Thr Ile Pro Ser Tyr Met Ile 180 185 190 Ser Tyr Ala Gly Met Val Phe Cys Glu Ala Lys Ile Asn Asp Glu Ser 195 200 205 Tyr Gln Ser Ile Met Tyr Ile Val Val Val Val Gly Tyr Arg Ile Tyr 210 215 220 Asp Val Val Leu Ser Pro Ser His Gly Ile Glu Leu Ser Val Gly Glu 225 230 235 240 Lys Leu Val Leu Asn Cys Thr Ala Arg Thr Glu Leu Asn Val Gly Ile 245 250 255 Asp Phe Asn Trp Glu Tyr Pro Ser Ser Lys His Gln His Lys Lys Leu 260 265 270 Val Asn Arg Asp Leu Lys Thr Gln Ser Gly Ser Glu Met Lys Lys Phe 275 280 285 Leu Ser Thr Leu Thr Ile Asp Gly Val Thr Arg Ser Asp Gln Gly Leu 290 295 300 Tyr Thr Cys Ala Ala Ser Ser Gly Leu Met Thr Lys Lys Asn Ser Thr 305 310 315 320 Phe Val Arg Val His Glu Lys Pro Phe Val Ala Phe Gly Ser Gly Met 325 330 335 Glu Ser Leu Val Glu Ala Thr Val Gly Glu Arg Val Arg Ile Pro Ala 340 345 350 Lys Tyr Leu Gly Tyr Pro Pro Pro Glu Ile Lys Trp Tyr Lys Asn Gly 355 360 365 Ile Pro Leu Glu Ser Asn His Thr Ile Lys Ala Gly His Val Leu Thr 370 375 380 Ile Met Glu Val Ser Glu Arg Asp Thr Gly Asn Tyr Thr Val Ile Leu 385 390 395 400 Thr Asn Pro Ile Ser Lys Glu Lys Gln Ser His Val Val Ser Leu Val 405 410 415 Val Tyr Val Pro Pro Gln Ile Gly Glu Lys Ser Leu Ile Ser Pro Val 420 425 430 Asp Ser Tyr Gln Tyr Gly Thr Thr Gln Thr Leu Thr Cys Thr Val Tyr 435 440 445 Ala Ile Pro Pro Pro His His Ile His Trp Tyr Trp Gln Leu Glu Glu 450 455 460 Glu Cys Ala Asn Glu Pro Ser Gln Ala Val Ser Val Thr Asn Pro Tyr 465 470 475 480 Pro Cys Glu Glu Trp Arg Ser Val Glu Asp Phe Gln Gly Gly Asn Lys 485 490 495 Ile Ala Val Asn Lys Asn Gln Phe Ala Leu Ile Glu Gly Lys Asn Lys 500 505 510 Thr Val Ser Thr Leu Val Ile Gln Ala Ala Asn Val Ser Ala Leu Tyr 515 520 525 Lys Cys Glu Ala Val Asn Lys Val Gly Arg Gly Glu Arg Val Ile Ser 530 535 540 Phe His Val Thr Arg Gly Pro Glu Ile Thr Leu Gln Pro Asp Met Gln 545 550 555 560 Pro Thr Glu Gln Glu Ser Val Ser Leu Trp Cys Thr Ala Asp Arg Ser 565 570 575 Thr Phe Glu Asn Leu Thr Trp Tyr Lys Leu Gly Pro Gln Pro Leu Pro 580 585 590 Ile His Val Gly Glu Leu Pro Thr Pro Val Cys Lys Asn Leu Asp Thr 595 600 605 Leu Trp Lys Leu Asn Ala Thr Met Phe Ser Asn Ser Thr Asn Asp Ile 610 615 620 Leu Ile Met Glu Leu Lys Asn Ala Ser Leu Gln Asp Gln Gly Asp Tyr 625 630 635 640 Val Cys Leu Ala Gln Asp Arg Lys Thr Lys Lys Arg His Cys Val Val 645 650 655 Arg Gln Leu Thr Val Leu Glu Arg Val Ala Pro Thr Ile Thr Gly Asn 660 665 670 Leu Glu Asn Gln Thr Thr Ser Ile Gly Glu Ser Ile Glu Val Ser Cys 675 680 685 Thr Ala Ser Gly Asn Pro Pro Pro Gln Ile Met Trp Phe Lys Asp Asn 690 695 700 Glu Thr Leu Val Glu Asp Ser Gly Ile Val Leu Lys Asp Gly Asn Arg 705 710 715 720 Asn Leu Thr Ile Arg Arg Val Arg Lys Glu Asp Glu Gly Leu Tyr Thr 725 730 735 Cys Gln Ala Cys Ser Val Leu Gly Cys Ala Lys Val Glu Ala Phe Phe 740 745 750 Ile Ile Glu Gly Ala Gln Glu Lys Thr Asn Leu Glu Ile Ile Ile Leu 755 760 765 Val Gly Thr Thr Val Ile Ala Met Phe Phe Trp Leu Leu Leu Val Ile 770 775 780 Ile Leu Gly Thr Val 785 16 2264 DNA Homo sapien CDS (270)...(2264) 16 ggtgtggtcg ctgcgtttcc tctgcctgcg ccgggcatca cttgcgcgcc gcagaaagtc 60 cgtctggcag cctggatatc ctctcctacc ggcacccgca gacgcccctg cagccgcggt 120 cggcgcccgg gctccctagc cctgtgcgct caactgtcct gcgctgcggg gtgccgcgag 180 ttccacctcc gcgcctcctt ctctagacag gcgctgggag aaagaaccgg ctcccgagtt 240 ccggcatttc gcccggctcg aggtgcagg atg cag agc aag gtg ctg ctg gcc 293 Met Gln Ser Lys Val Leu Leu Ala 1 5 gtc gcc ctg tgg ctc tgc gtg gag acc cgg gcc gcc tct gtg ggt ttg 341 Val Ala Leu Trp Leu Cys Val Glu Thr Arg Ala Ala Ser Val Gly Leu 10 15 20 cct agt gtt tct ctt gat ctg ccc agg ctc agc ata caa aaa gac ata 389 Pro Ser Val Ser Leu Asp Leu Pro Arg Leu Ser Ile Gln Lys Asp Ile 25 30 35 40 ctt aca att aag gct aat aca act ctt caa att act tgc agg gga cag 437 Leu Thr Ile Lys Ala Asn Thr Thr Leu Gln Ile Thr Cys Arg Gly Gln 45 50 55 agg gac ttg gac tgg ctt tgg ccc aat aat cag agt ggc agt gag caa 485 Arg Asp Leu Asp Trp Leu Trp Pro Asn Asn Gln Ser Gly Ser Glu Gln 60 65 70 agg gtg gag gtg act gag tgc agc gat ggc ctc ttc tgt aag aca ctc 533 Arg Val Glu Val Thr Glu Cys Ser Asp Gly Leu Phe Cys Lys Thr Leu 75 80 85 aca att cca aaa gtg atc gga aat gac act gga gcc tac aag tgc ttc 581 Thr Ile Pro Lys Val Ile Gly Asn Asp Thr Gly Ala Tyr Lys Cys Phe 90 95 100 tac cgg gaa act gac ttg gcc tcg gtc att tat gtc tat gtt caa gat 629 Tyr Arg Glu Thr Asp Leu Ala Ser Val Ile Tyr Val Tyr Val Gln Asp 105 110 115 120 tac aga tct cca ttt att gct tct gtt agt gac caa cat gga gtc gtg 677 Tyr Arg Ser Pro Phe Ile Ala Ser Val Ser Asp Gln His Gly Val Val 125 130 135 tac att act gag aac aaa aac aaa act gtg gtg att cca tgt ctc ggg 725 Tyr Ile Thr Glu Asn Lys Asn Lys Thr Val Val Ile Pro Cys Leu Gly 140 145 150 tcc att tca aat ctc aac gtg tca ctt tgt gca aga tac cca gaa aag 773 Ser Ile Ser Asn Leu Asn Val Ser Leu Cys Ala Arg Tyr Pro Glu Lys 155 160 165 aga ttt gtt cct gat ggt aac aga att tcc tgg gac agc aag aag ggc 821 Arg Phe Val Pro Asp Gly Asn Arg Ile Ser Trp Asp Ser Lys Lys Gly 170 175 180 ttt act att ccc agc tac atg atc agc tat gct ggc atg gtc ttc tgt 869 Phe Thr Ile Pro Ser Tyr Met Ile Ser Tyr Ala Gly Met Val Phe Cys 185 190 195 200 gaa gca aaa att aat gat gaa agt tac cag tct att atg tac ata gtt 917 Glu Ala Lys Ile Asn Asp Glu Ser Tyr Gln Ser Ile Met Tyr Ile Val 205 210 215 gtc gtt gta ggg tat agg att tat gat gtg gtt ctg agt ccg tct cat 965 Val Val Val Gly Tyr Arg Ile Tyr Asp Val Val Leu Ser Pro Ser His 220 225 230 gga att gaa cta tct gtt gga gaa aag ctt gtc tta aat tgt aca gca 1013 Gly Ile Glu Leu Ser Val Gly Glu Lys Leu Val Leu Asn Cys Thr Ala 235 240 245 aga act gaa cta aat gtg ggg att gac ttc aac tgg gaa tac cct tct 1061 Arg Thr Glu Leu Asn Val Gly Ile Asp Phe Asn Trp Glu Tyr Pro Ser 250 255 260 tcg aag cat cag cat aag aaa ctt gta aac cga gac cta aaa acc cag 1109 Ser Lys His Gln His Lys Lys Leu Val Asn Arg Asp Leu Lys Thr Gln 265 270 275 280 tct ggg agt gag atg aag aaa ttt ttg agc acc tta act ata gat ggt 1157 Ser Gly Ser Glu Met Lys Lys Phe Leu Ser Thr Leu Thr Ile Asp Gly 285 290 295 gta acc cgg agt gac caa gga ttg tac acc tgt gca gca tcc agt ggg 1205 Val Thr Arg Ser Asp Gln Gly Leu Tyr Thr Cys Ala Ala Ser Ser Gly 300 305 310 ctg atg acc aag aag aac agc aca ttt gtc agg gtc cat gaa aaa cct 1253 Leu Met Thr Lys Lys Asn Ser Thr Phe Val Arg Val His Glu Lys Pro 315 320 325 ttt gtt gct ttt gga agt ggc atg gaa tct ctg gtg gaa gcc acg gtg 1301 Phe Val Ala Phe Gly Ser Gly Met Glu Ser Leu Val Glu Ala Thr Val 330 335 340 ggg gag cgt gtc aga atc cct gcg aag tac ctt ggt tac cca ccc cca 1349 Gly Glu Arg Val Arg Ile Pro Ala Lys Tyr Leu Gly Tyr Pro Pro Pro 345 350 355 360 gaa ata aaa tgg tat aaa aat gga ata ccc ctt gag tcc aat cac aca 1397 Glu Ile Lys Trp Tyr Lys Asn Gly Ile Pro Leu Glu Ser Asn His Thr 365 370 375 att aaa gcg ggg cat gta ctg acg att atg gaa gtg agt gaa aga gac 1445 Ile Lys Ala Gly His Val Leu Thr Ile Met Glu Val Ser Glu Arg Asp 380 385 390 aca gga aat tac act gtc atc ctt acc aat ccc att tca aag gag aag 1493 Thr Gly Asn Tyr Thr Val Ile Leu Thr Asn Pro Ile Ser Lys Glu Lys 395 400 405 cag agc cat gtg gtc tct ctg gtt gtg tat gtc cca ccc cag att ggt 1541 Gln Ser His Val Val Ser Leu Val Val Tyr Val Pro Pro Gln Ile Gly 410 415 420 gag aaa tct cta atc tct cct gtg gat tcc tac cag tac ggc acc act 1589 Glu Lys Ser Leu Ile Ser Pro Val Asp Ser Tyr Gln Tyr Gly Thr Thr 425 430 435 440 caa acg ctg aca tgt acg gtc tat gcc att cct ccc ccg cat cac atc 1637 Gln Thr Leu Thr Cys Thr Val Tyr Ala Ile Pro Pro Pro His His Ile 445 450 455 cac tgg tat tgg cag ttg gag gaa gag tgc gcc aac gag ccc agc caa 1685 His Trp Tyr Trp Gln Leu Glu Glu Glu Cys Ala Asn Glu Pro Ser Gln 460 465 470 gct gtc tca gtg aca aac cca tac cct tgt gaa gaa tgg aga agt gtg 1733 Ala Val Ser Val Thr Asn Pro Tyr Pro Cys Glu Glu Trp Arg Ser Val 475 480 485 gag gac ttc cag gga gga aat aaa att gcc gtt aat aaa aat caa ttt 1781 Glu Asp Phe Gln Gly Gly Asn Lys Ile Ala Val Asn Lys Asn Gln Phe 490 495 500 gct cta att gaa gga aaa aac aaa act gta agt acc ctt gtt atc caa 1829 Ala Leu Ile Glu Gly Lys Asn Lys Thr Val Ser Thr Leu Val Ile Gln 505 510 515 520 gcg gca aat gtg tca gct ttg tac aaa tgt gaa gcg gtc aac aaa gtc 1877 Ala Ala Asn Val Ser Ala Leu Tyr Lys Cys Glu Ala Val Asn Lys Val 525 530 535 ggg aga gga gag agg gtg atc tcc ttc cac gtg acc agg ggt cct gaa 1925 Gly Arg Gly Glu Arg Val Ile Ser Phe His Val Thr Arg Gly Pro Glu 540 545 550 att act ttg caa cct gac atg cag ccc act gag cag gag agc gtg tct 1973 Ile Thr Leu Gln Pro Asp Met Gln Pro Thr Glu Gln Glu Ser Val Ser 555 560 565 ttg tgg tgc act gca gac aga tct acg ttt gag aac ctc aca tgg tac 2021 Leu Trp Cys Thr Ala Asp Arg Ser Thr Phe Glu Asn Leu Thr Trp Tyr 570 575 580 aag ctt ggc cca cag cct ctg cca atc cat gtg gga gag ttg ccc aca 2069 Lys Leu Gly Pro Gln Pro Leu Pro Ile His Val Gly Glu Leu Pro Thr 585 590 595 600 cct gtt tgc aag aac ttg gat act ctt tgg aaa ttg aat gcc acc atg 2117 Pro Val Cys Lys Asn Leu Asp Thr Leu Trp Lys Leu Asn Ala Thr Met 605 610 615 ttc tct aat agc aca aat gac att ttg atc atg gag ctt aag aat gca 2165 Phe Ser Asn Ser Thr Asn Asp Ile Leu Ile Met Glu Leu Lys Asn Ala 620 625 630 tcc ttg cag gac caa gga gac tat gtc tgc ctt gct caa gac agg aag 2213 Ser Leu Gln Asp Gln Gly Asp Tyr Val Cys Leu Ala Gln Asp Arg Lys 635 640 645 acc aag aaa aga cat tgc gtg gtc agg cag ctc aca gtc cta gag cgt 2261 Thr Lys Lys Arg His Cys Val Val Arg Gln Leu Thr Val Leu Glu Arg 650 655 660 taa 2264 * 17 2352 DNA Homo sapien CDS (10)...(2352) 17 gcgctcacc atg gtc agc tac tgg gac acc ggg gtc ctg ctg tgc gcg ctg 51 Met Val Ser Tyr Trp Asp Thr Gly Val Leu Leu Cys Ala Leu 1 5 10 ctc agc tgt ctg ctt ctc aca gga tct agt tca ggt tca aaa tta aaa 99 Leu Ser Cys Leu Leu Leu Thr Gly Ser Ser Ser Gly Ser Lys Leu Lys 15 20 25 30 gat cct gaa ctg agt tta aaa ggc acc cag cac atc atg caa gca ggc 147 Asp Pro Glu Leu Ser Leu Lys Gly Thr Gln His Ile Met Gln Ala Gly 35 40 45 cag aca ctg cat ctc caa tgc agg ggg gaa gca gcc cat aaa tgg tct 195 Gln Thr Leu His Leu Gln Cys Arg Gly Glu Ala Ala His Lys Trp Ser 50 55 60 ttg cct gaa atg gtg agt aag gaa agc gaa agg ctg agc ata act aaa 243 Leu Pro Glu Met Val Ser Lys Glu Ser Glu Arg Leu Ser Ile Thr Lys 65 70 75 tct gcc tgt gga aga aat ggc aaa caa ttc tgc agt act tta acc ttg 291 Ser Ala Cys Gly Arg Asn Gly Lys Gln Phe Cys Ser Thr Leu Thr Leu 80 85 90 aac aca gct caa gca aac cac act ggc ttc tac agc tgc aaa tat cta 339 Asn Thr Ala Gln Ala Asn His Thr Gly Phe Tyr Ser Cys Lys Tyr Leu 95 100 105 110 gct gta cct act tca aag aag aag gaa aca gaa tct gca atc tat ata 387 Ala Val Pro Thr Ser Lys Lys Lys Glu Thr Glu Ser Ala Ile Tyr Ile 115 120 125 ttt att agt gat aca ggt aga cct ttc gta gag atg tac agt gaa atc 435 Phe Ile Ser Asp Thr Gly Arg Pro Phe Val Glu Met Tyr Ser Glu Ile 130 135 140 ccc gaa att ata cac atg act gaa gga agg gag ctc gtc att ccc tgc 483 Pro Glu Ile Ile His Met Thr Glu Gly Arg Glu Leu Val Ile Pro Cys 145 150 155 cgg gtt acg tca cct aac atc act gtt act tta aaa aag ttt cca ctt 531 Arg Val Thr Ser Pro Asn Ile Thr Val Thr Leu Lys Lys Phe Pro Leu 160 165 170 gac act ttg atc cct gat gga aaa cgc ata atc tgg gac agt aga aag 579 Asp Thr Leu Ile Pro Asp Gly Lys Arg Ile Ile Trp Asp Ser Arg Lys 175 180 185 190 ggc ttc atc ata tca aat gca acg tac aaa gaa ata ggg ctt ctg acc 627 Gly Phe Ile Ile Ser Asn Ala Thr Tyr Lys Glu Ile Gly Leu Leu Thr 195 200 205 tgt gaa gca aca gtc aat ggg cat ttg tat aag aca aac tat ctc aca 675 Cys Glu Ala Thr Val Asn Gly His Leu Tyr Lys Thr Asn Tyr Leu Thr 210 215 220 cat cga caa acc aat aca atc ata gat gtc caa ata agc aca cca cgc 723 His Arg Gln Thr Asn Thr Ile Ile Asp Val Gln Ile Ser Thr Pro Arg 225 230 235 cca gtc aaa tta ctt aga ggc cat act ctt gtc ctc aat tgt act gct 771 Pro Val Lys Leu Leu Arg Gly His Thr Leu Val Leu Asn Cys Thr Ala 240 245 250 acc act ccc ttg aac acg aga gtt caa atg acc tgg agt tac cct gat 819 Thr Thr Pro Leu Asn Thr Arg Val Gln Met Thr Trp Ser Tyr Pro Asp 255 260 265 270 gaa aaa aat aag aga gct tcc gta agg cga cga att gac caa agc aat 867 Glu Lys Asn Lys Arg Ala Ser Val Arg Arg Arg Ile Asp Gln Ser Asn 275 280 285 tcc cat gcc aac ata ttc tac agt gtt ctt act att gac aaa atg cag 915 Ser His Ala Asn Ile Phe Tyr Ser Val Leu Thr Ile Asp Lys Met Gln 290 295 300 aac aaa gac aaa gga ctt tat act tgt cgt gta agg agt gga cca tca 963 Asn Lys Asp Lys Gly Leu Tyr Thr Cys Arg Val Arg Ser Gly Pro Ser 305 310 315 ttc aaa tct gtt aac acc tca gtg cat ata tat gat aaa gca ttc atc 1011 Phe Lys Ser Val Asn Thr Ser Val His Ile Tyr Asp Lys Ala Phe Ile 320 325 330 act gtg aaa cat cga aaa cag cag gtg ctt gaa acc gta gct ggc aag 1059 Thr Val Lys His Arg Lys Gln Gln Val Leu Glu Thr Val Ala Gly Lys 335 340 345 350 cgg tct tac cgg ctc tct atg aaa gtg aag gca ttt ccc tcg ccg gaa 1107 Arg Ser Tyr Arg Leu Ser Met Lys Val Lys Ala Phe Pro Ser Pro Glu 355 360 365 gtt gta tgg tta aaa gat ggg tta cct gcg act gag aaa tct gct cgc 1155 Val Val Trp Leu Lys Asp Gly Leu Pro Ala Thr Glu Lys Ser Ala Arg 370 375 380 tat ttg act cgt ggc tac tcg tta att atc aag gac gta act gaa gag 1203 Tyr Leu Thr Arg Gly Tyr Ser Leu Ile Ile Lys Asp Val Thr Glu Glu 385 390 395 gat gca ggg aat tat aca atc ttg ctg agc ata aaa cag tca aat gtg 1251 Asp Ala Gly Asn Tyr Thr Ile Leu Leu Ser Ile Lys Gln Ser Asn Val 400 405 410 ttt aaa aac ctc act gcc act cta att gtc aat gtg aaa ccc cag att 1299 Phe Lys Asn Leu Thr Ala Thr Leu Ile Val Asn Val Lys Pro Gln Ile 415 420 425 430 tac gaa aag gcc gtg tca tcg ttt cca gac ccg gct ctc tac cca ctg 1347 Tyr Glu Lys Ala Val Ser Ser Phe Pro Asp Pro Ala Leu Tyr Pro Leu 435 440 445 ggc agc aga caa atc ctg act tgt acc gca tat ggt atc cct caa cct 1395 Gly Ser Arg Gln Ile Leu Thr Cys Thr Ala Tyr Gly Ile Pro Gln Pro 450 455 460 aca atc aag tgg ttc tgg cac ccc tgt aac cat aat cat tcc gaa gca 1443 Thr Ile Lys Trp Phe Trp His Pro Cys Asn His Asn His Ser Glu Ala 465 470 475 agg tgt gac ttt tgt tcc aat aat gaa gag tcc ttt atc ctg gat gct 1491 Arg Cys Asp Phe Cys Ser Asn Asn Glu Glu Ser Phe Ile Leu Asp Ala 480 485 490 gac agc aac atg gga aac aga att gag agc atc act cag cgc atg gca 1539 Asp Ser Asn Met Gly Asn Arg Ile Glu Ser Ile Thr Gln Arg Met Ala 495 500 505 510 ata ata gaa gga aag aat aag atg gct agc acc ttg gtt gtg gct gac 1587 Ile Ile Glu Gly Lys Asn Lys Met Ala Ser Thr Leu Val Val Ala Asp 515 520 525 tct aga att tct gga atc tac att tgc ata gct tcc aat aaa gtt ggg 1635 Ser Arg Ile Ser Gly Ile Tyr Ile Cys Ile Ala Ser Asn Lys Val Gly 530 535 540 act gtg gga aga aac ata agc ttt tat atc aca gat gtg cca aat ggg 1683 Thr Val Gly Arg Asn Ile Ser Phe Tyr Ile Thr Asp Val Pro Asn Gly 545 550 555 ttt cat gtt aac ttg gaa aaa atg ccg acg gaa gga gag gac ctg aaa 1731 Phe His Val Asn Leu Glu Lys Met Pro Thr Glu Gly Glu Asp Leu Lys 560 565 570 ctg tct tgc aca gtt aac aag ttc tta tac aga gac gtt act tgg att 1779 Leu Ser Cys Thr Val Asn Lys Phe Leu Tyr Arg Asp Val Thr Trp Ile 575 580 585 590 tta ctg cgg aca gtt aat aac aga aca atg cac tac agt att agc aag 1827 Leu Leu Arg Thr Val Asn Asn Arg Thr Met His Tyr Ser Ile Ser Lys 595 600 605 caa aaa atg gcc atc act aag gag cac tcc atc act ctt aat ctt acc 1875 Gln Lys Met Ala Ile Thr Lys Glu His Ser Ile Thr Leu Asn Leu Thr 610 615 620 atc atg aat gtt tcc ctg caa gat tca ggc acc tat gcc tgc aga gcc 1923 Ile Met Asn Val Ser Leu Gln Asp Ser Gly Thr Tyr Ala Cys Arg Ala 625 630 635 agg aat gta tac aca ggg gaa gaa atc ctc cag aag aaa gaa att aca 1971 Arg Asn Val Tyr Thr Gly Glu Glu Ile Leu Gln Lys Lys Glu Ile Thr 640 645 650 atc aga gat cag gaa gca cca tac ctc ctg cga aac ctc agt gat cac 2019 Ile Arg Asp Gln Glu Ala Pro Tyr Leu Leu Arg Asn Leu Ser Asp His 655 660 665 670 aca gtg gcc atc agc agt tcc acc act tta gac tgt cat gct aat ggt 2067 Thr Val Ala Ile Ser Ser Ser Thr Thr Leu Asp Cys His Ala Asn Gly 675 680 685 gtc ccc gag cct cag atc act tgg ttt aaa aac aac cac aaa ata caa 2115 Val Pro Glu Pro Gln Ile Thr Trp Phe Lys Asn Asn His Lys Ile Gln 690 695 700 caa gag cct gga att att tta gga cca gga agc agc acg ctg ttt att 2163 Gln Glu Pro Gly Ile Ile Leu Gly Pro Gly Ser Ser Thr Leu Phe Ile 705 710 715 gaa aga gtc aca gaa gag gat gaa ggt gtc tat cac tgc aaa gcc acc 2211 Glu Arg Val Thr Glu Glu Asp Glu Gly Val Tyr His Cys Lys Ala Thr 720 725 730 aac cag aag ggc tct gtg gaa agt tca gca tac ctc act gtt caa gga 2259 Asn Gln Lys Gly Ser Val Glu Ser Ser Ala Tyr Leu Thr Val Gln Gly 735 740 745 750 acc tcg gac aag tct aat ctg gag ctg atc act cta aca tgc acc tgt 2307 Thr Ser Asp Lys Ser Asn Leu Glu Leu Ile Thr Leu Thr Cys Thr Cys 755 760 765 gtg gct gcg act ctc ttc tgg ctc cta tta acc ctc ctt atc taa 2352 Val Ala Ala Thr Leu Phe Trp Leu Leu Leu Thr Leu Leu Ile * 770 775 780 18 2383 DNA Homo sapien CDS (14)...(2383) 18 ctcgaggtgc agg atg cag agc aag gtg ctg ctg gcc gtc gcc ctg tgg 49 Met Gln Ser Lys Val Leu Leu Ala Val Ala Leu Trp 1 5 10 ctc tgc gtg gag acc cgg gcc gcc tct gtg ggt ttg cct agt gtt tct 97 Leu Cys Val Glu Thr Arg Ala Ala Ser Val Gly Leu Pro Ser Val Ser 15 20 25 ctt gat ctg ccc agg ctc agc ata caa aaa gac ata ctt aca att aag 145 Leu Asp Leu Pro Arg Leu Ser Ile Gln Lys Asp Ile Leu Thr Ile Lys 30 35 40 gct aat aca act ctt caa att act tgc agg gga cag agg gac ttg gac 193 Ala Asn Thr Thr Leu Gln Ile Thr Cys Arg Gly Gln Arg Asp Leu Asp 45 50 55 60 tgg ctt tgg ccc aat aat cag agt ggc agt gag caa agg gtg gag gtg 241 Trp Leu Trp Pro Asn Asn Gln Ser Gly Ser Glu Gln Arg Val Glu Val 65 70 75 act gag tgc agc gat ggc ctc ttc tgt aag aca ctc aca att cca aaa 289 Thr Glu Cys Ser Asp Gly Leu Phe Cys Lys Thr Leu Thr Ile Pro Lys 80 85 90 gtg atc gga aat gac act gga gcc tac aag tgc ttc tac cgg gaa act 337 Val Ile Gly Asn Asp Thr Gly Ala Tyr Lys Cys Phe Tyr Arg Glu Thr 95 100 105 gac ttg gcc tcg gtc att tat gtc tat gtt caa gat tac aga tct cca 385 Asp Leu Ala Ser Val Ile Tyr Val Tyr Val Gln Asp Tyr Arg Ser Pro 110 115 120 ttt att gct tct gtt agt gac caa cat gga gtc gtg tac att act gag 433 Phe Ile Ala Ser Val Ser Asp Gln His Gly Val Val Tyr Ile Thr Glu 125 130 135 140 aac aaa aac aaa act gtg gtg att cca tgt ctc ggg tcc att tca aat 481 Asn Lys Asn Lys Thr Val Val Ile Pro Cys Leu Gly Ser Ile Ser Asn 145 150 155 ctc aac gtg tca ctt tgt gca aga tac cca gaa aag aga ttt gtt cct 529 Leu Asn Val Ser Leu Cys Ala Arg Tyr Pro Glu Lys Arg Phe Val Pro 160 165 170 gat ggt aac aga att tcc tgg gac agc aag aag ggc ttt act att ccc 577 Asp Gly Asn Arg Ile Ser Trp Asp Ser Lys Lys Gly Phe Thr Ile Pro 175 180 185 agc tac atg atc agc tat gct ggc atg gtc ttc tgt gaa gca aaa att 625 Ser Tyr Met Ile Ser Tyr Ala Gly Met Val Phe Cys Glu Ala Lys Ile 190 195 200 aat gat gaa agt tac cag tct att atg tac ata gtt gtc gtt gta ggg 673 Asn Asp Glu Ser Tyr Gln Ser Ile Met Tyr Ile Val Val Val Val Gly 205 210 215 220 tat agg att tat gat gtg gtt ctg agt ccg tct cat gga att gaa cta 721 Tyr Arg Ile Tyr Asp Val Val Leu Ser Pro Ser His Gly Ile Glu Leu 225 230 235 tct gtt gga gaa aag ctt gtc tta aat tgt aca gca aga act gaa cta 769 Ser Val Gly Glu Lys Leu Val Leu Asn Cys Thr Ala Arg Thr Glu Leu 240 245 250 aat gtg ggg att gac ttc aac tgg gaa tac cct tct tcg aag cat cag 817 Asn Val Gly Ile Asp Phe Asn Trp Glu Tyr Pro Ser Ser Lys His Gln 255 260 265 cat aag aaa ctt gta aac cga gac cta aaa acc cag tct ggg agt gag 865 His Lys Lys Leu Val Asn Arg Asp Leu Lys Thr Gln Ser Gly Ser Glu 270 275 280 atg aag aaa ttt ttg agc acc tta act ata gat ggt gta acc cgg agt 913 Met Lys Lys Phe Leu Ser Thr Leu Thr Ile Asp Gly Val Thr Arg Ser 285 290 295 300 gac caa gga ttg tac acc tgt gca gca tcc agt ggg ctg atg acc aag 961 Asp Gln Gly Leu Tyr Thr Cys Ala Ala Ser Ser Gly Leu Met Thr Lys 305 310 315 aag aac agc aca ttt gtc agg gtc cat gaa aaa cct ttt gtt gct ttt 1009 Lys Asn Ser Thr Phe Val Arg Val His Glu Lys Pro Phe Val Ala Phe 320 325 330 gga agt ggc atg gaa tct ctg gtg gaa gcc acg gtg ggg gag cgt gtc 1057 Gly Ser Gly Met Glu Ser Leu Val Glu Ala Thr Val Gly Glu Arg Val 335 340 345 aga atc cct gcg aag tac ctt ggt tac cca ccc cca gaa ata aaa tgg 1105 Arg Ile Pro Ala Lys Tyr Leu Gly Tyr Pro Pro Pro Glu Ile Lys Trp 350 355 360 tat aaa aat gga ata ccc ctt gag tcc aat cac aca att aaa gcg ggg 1153 Tyr Lys Asn Gly Ile Pro Leu Glu Ser Asn His Thr Ile Lys Ala Gly 365 370 375 380 cat gta ctg acg att atg gaa gtg agt gaa aga gac aca gga aat tac 1201 His Val Leu Thr Ile Met Glu Val Ser Glu Arg Asp Thr Gly Asn Tyr 385 390 395 act gtc atc ctt acc aat ccc att tca aag gag aag cag agc cat gtg 1249 Thr Val Ile Leu Thr Asn Pro Ile Ser Lys Glu Lys Gln Ser His Val 400 405 410 gtc tct ctg gtt gtg tat gtc cca ccc cag att ggt gag aaa tct cta 1297 Val Ser Leu Val Val Tyr Val Pro Pro Gln Ile Gly Glu Lys Ser Leu 415 420 425 atc tct cct gtg gat tcc tac cag tac ggc acc act caa acg ctg aca 1345 Ile Ser Pro Val Asp Ser Tyr Gln Tyr Gly Thr Thr Gln Thr Leu Thr 430 435 440 tgt acg gtc tat gcc att cct ccc ccg cat cac atc cac tgg tat tgg 1393 Cys Thr Val Tyr Ala Ile Pro Pro Pro His His Ile His Trp Tyr Trp 445 450 455 460 cag ttg gag gaa gag tgc gcc aac gag ccc agc caa gct gtc tca gtg 1441 Gln Leu Glu Glu Glu Cys Ala Asn Glu Pro Ser Gln Ala Val Ser Val 465 470 475 aca aac cca tac cct tgt gaa gaa tgg aga agt gtg gag gac ttc cag 1489 Thr Asn Pro Tyr Pro Cys Glu Glu Trp Arg Ser Val Glu Asp Phe Gln 480 485 490 gga gga aat aaa att gcc gtt aat aaa aat caa ttt gct cta att gaa 1537 Gly Gly Asn Lys Ile Ala Val Asn Lys Asn Gln Phe Ala Leu Ile Glu 495 500 505 gga aaa aac aaa act gta agt acc ctt gtt atc caa gcg gca aat gtg 1585 Gly Lys Asn Lys Thr Val Ser Thr Leu Val Ile Gln Ala Ala Asn Val 510 515 520 tca gct ttg tac aaa tgt gaa gcg gtc aac aaa gtc ggg aga gga gag 1633 Ser Ala Leu Tyr Lys Cys Glu Ala Val Asn Lys Val Gly Arg Gly Glu 525 530 535 540 agg gtg atc tcc ttc cac gtg acc agg ggt cct gaa att act ttg caa 1681 Arg Val Ile Ser Phe His Val Thr Arg Gly Pro Glu Ile Thr Leu Gln 545 550 555 cct gac atg cag ccc act gag cag gag agc gtg tct ttg tgg tgc act 1729 Pro Asp Met Gln Pro Thr Glu Gln Glu Ser Val Ser Leu Trp Cys Thr 560 565 570 gca gac aga tct acg ttt gag aac ctc aca tgg tac aag ctt ggc cca 1777 Ala Asp Arg Ser Thr Phe Glu Asn Leu Thr Trp Tyr Lys Leu Gly Pro 575 580 585 cag cct ctg cca atc cat gtg gga gag ttg ccc aca cct gtt tgc aag 1825 Gln Pro Leu Pro Ile His Val Gly Glu Leu Pro Thr Pro Val Cys Lys 590 595 600 aac ttg gat act ctt tgg aaa ttg aat gcc acc atg ttc tct aat agc 1873 Asn Leu Asp Thr Leu Trp Lys Leu Asn Ala Thr Met Phe Ser Asn Ser 605 610 615 620 aca aat gac att ttg atc atg gag ctt aag aat gca tcc ttg cag gac 1921 Thr Asn Asp Ile Leu Ile Met Glu Leu Lys Asn Ala Ser Leu Gln Asp 625 630 635 caa gga gac tat gtc tgc ctt gct caa gac agg aag acc aag aaa aga 1969 Gln Gly Asp Tyr Val Cys Leu Ala Gln Asp Arg Lys Thr Lys Lys Arg 640 645 650 cat tgc gtg gtc agg cag ctc aca gtc cta gag cgt gtg gca ccc acg 2017 His Cys Val Val Arg Gln Leu Thr Val Leu Glu Arg Val Ala Pro Thr 655 660 665 atc aca gga aac ctg gag aat cag acg aca agt att ggg gaa agc atc 2065 Ile Thr Gly Asn Leu Glu Asn Gln Thr Thr Ser Ile Gly Glu Ser Ile 670 675 680 gaa gtc tca tgc acg gca tct ggg aat ccc cct cca cag atc atg tgg 2113 Glu Val Ser Cys Thr Ala Ser Gly Asn Pro Pro Pro Gln Ile Met Trp 685 690 695 700 ttt aaa gat aat gag acc ctt gta gaa gac tca ggc att gta ttg aag 2161 Phe Lys Asp Asn Glu Thr Leu Val Glu Asp Ser Gly Ile Val Leu Lys 705 710 715 gat ggg aac cgg aac ctc act atc cgc aga gtg agg aag gag gac gaa 2209 Asp Gly Asn Arg Asn Leu Thr Ile Arg Arg Val Arg Lys Glu Asp Glu 720 725 730 ggc ctc tac acc tgc cag gca tgc agt gtt ctt ggc tgt gca aaa gtg 2257 Gly Leu Tyr Thr Cys Gln Ala Cys Ser Val Leu Gly Cys Ala Lys Val 735 740 745 gag gca ttt ttc ata ata gaa ggt gcc cag gaa aag acg aac ttg gaa 2305 Glu Ala Phe Phe Ile Ile Glu Gly Ala Gln Glu Lys Thr Asn Leu Glu 750 755 760 atc att att cta gta ggc acg acg gtg att gcc atg ttc ttc tgg cta 2353 Ile Ile Ile Leu Val Gly Thr Thr Val Ile Ala Met Phe Phe Trp Leu 765 770 775 780 ctt ctt gtc atc atc cta ggg acc gtt taa 2383 Leu Leu Val Ile Ile Leu Gly Thr Val * 785 

What is claimed is:
 1. A soluble VEGF inhibitor in substantially pure form which specifically binds VEGF and inhibits cellular VEGF receptor activity.
 2. The soluble VEGF inhibitor according to claim 1 wherein the soluble VEGF receptor is selected from the group consisting of sVEGF-RI, sVEGF-RII, sVEGF-RTMI and sVEGF-RTMII.
 3. The soluble VEGF inhibitor of claim 2 corresponding to sVEGF-RI comprising the amino acid sequence: Met Val Ser Tyr Trp Asp Thr Gly Val Leu Leu Cys Ala Leu Leu Ser (SEQ ID NO.:6) Cys Leu Leu Leu Thr Gly Ser Ser Ser Gly Ser Lys Leu Lys Asp Pro Glu Leu Ser Leu Lys Gly Thr Gln His Ile Met Gln Ala Gly Gln Thr Leu His Leu Gln Cys Arg Gly Glu Ala Ala His Lys Trp Ser Leu Pro Glu Met Val Ser Lys Glu Ser Glu Arg Leu Ser Ile Thr Lys Ser Ala Cys Gly Arg Asn Gly Lys Gln Phe Cys Ser Thr Leu Thr Leu Asn Thr Ala Gln Ala Asn His Thr Gly Phe Tyr Ser Cys Lys Tyr Leu Ala Val Pro Thr Ser Lys Lys Lys Glu Thr Glu Ser Ala Ile Tyr Ile Phe Ile Ser Asp Thr Gly Arg Pro Phe Val Glu Met Tyr Ser Glu Ile Pro Glu Ile Ile His Met Thr Glu Gly Arg Glu Leu Val Ile Pro Cys Arg Val Thr Ser Pro Asn Ile Thr Val Thr Leu Lys Lys Phe Pro Leu Asp Thr Leu Ile Pro Asp Gly Lys Arg Ile Ile Trp Asp Ser Arg Lys Gly Phe Ile Ile Ser Asn Ala Thr Tyr Lys Glu Ile Gly Leu Leu Thr Cys Glu Ala Thr Val Asn Gly His Leu Tyr Lys Thr Asn Tyr Leu Thr His Arg Gln Thr Asn Thr Ile Ile Asp Val Gln Ile Ser Thr Pro Arg Pro Val Lys Leu Leu Arg Gly His Thr Leu Val Leu Asn Cys Thr Ala Thr Thr Pro Leu Asn Thr Arg Val Gln Met Thr Trp Ser Tyr Pro Asp Glu Lys Asn Lys Arg Ala Ser Val Arg Arg Arg Ile Asp Gln Ser Asn Ser His Ala Asn Ile Phe Tyr Ser Val Leu Thr Ile Asp Lys Met Gln Asn Lys Asp Lys Gly Leu Tyr Thr Cys Arg Val Arg Ser Gly Pro Ser Phe Lys Ser Val Asn Thr Ser Val His Ile Tyr Asp Lys Ala Phe Ile Thr Val Lys His Arg Lys Gln Gln Val Leu Glu Thr Val Ala Gly Lys Arg Ser Tyr Arg Leu Ser Met Lys Val Lys Ala Phe Pro Ser Pro Glu Val Val Trp Leu Lys Asp Gly Leu Pro Ala Thr Glu Lys Ser Ala Arg Tyr Leu Thr Arg Gly Tyr Ser Leu Ile Ile Lys Asp Val Thr Glu Glu Asp Ala Gly Asn Tyr Thr Ile Leu Leu Ser Ile Lys Gln Ser Asn Val Phe Lys Asn Leu Thr Ala Thr Leu Ile Val Asn Val Lys Pro Gln Ile Tyr Glu Lys Ala Val Ser Ser Phe Pro Asp Pro Ala Leu Tyr Pro Leu Gly Ser Arg Gln Ile Leu Thr Cys Thr Ala Tyr Gly Ile Pro Gln Pro Thr Ile Lys Trp Phe Trp His Pro Cys Asn His Asn His Ser Glu Ala Arg Cys Asp Phe Cys Ser Asn Asn Glu Glu Ser Phe Ile Leu Asp Ala Asp Ser Asn Met Gly Asn Arg Ile Glu Ser Ile Thr Gln Arg Met Ala Ile Ile Glu Gly Lys Asn Lys Met Ala Ser Thr Leu Val Val Ala Asp Ser Arg Ile Ser Gly Ile Tyr Ile Cys Ile Ala Ser Asn Lys Val Gly Thr Val Gly Arg Asn Ile Ser Phe Tyr Ile Thr Asp Val Pro Asn Gly Phe His Val Asn Leu Glu Lys Met Pro Thr Glu Gly Glu Asp Leu Lys Leu Ser Cys Thr Val Asn Lys Phe Leu Tyr Arg Asp Val Thr Trp Ile Leu Leu Arg Thr Val Asn Asn Arg Thr Met His Tyr Ser Ile Ser Lys Gln Lys Met Ala Ile Thr Lys Glu His Ser Ile Thr Leu Asn Leu Thr Ile Met Asn Val Ser Leu Gln Asp Ser Gly Thr Tyr Ala Cys Arg Ala Arg Asn Val Tyr Thr Gly Glu Glu Ile Leu Gln Lys Lys Glu Ile Thr Ile Arg Gly Glu His Cys Asn Lys Lys Ala Val Phe Ser Arg Ile Ser Lys Phe Lys Ser Thr Arg Asn Asp Cys Thr Thr Gln Ser Asn Val Lys His.


4. The soluble VEGF inhibitor of claim 2 corresponding to sVEGF-RI comprising the amino acid sequence: Ser Lys Leu Lys Asp Pro Glu Leu Ser Leu Lys Gly Thr Gln His Ile Met (SEQ ID NO.:12) Gln Ala Gly Gln Thr Leu His Leu Gln Cys Arg Gly Gln Ala Ala His Lys Trp Ser Leu Pro Glu Met Val Ser Lys Glu Ser Glu Arg Leu Ser Ile Thr Lys Ser Ala Cys Gly Arg Asn Gly Lys Gln Phe Cys Ser Thr Leu Thr Leu Asn Thr Ala Gln Ala Asn His Thr Gly Phe Tyr Ser Cys Lys Tyr Leu Ala Val Pro Thr Ser Lys Lys Lys Glu Thr Glu Ser Ala Ile Tyr Ile Phe Ile Ser Asp Thr Gly Arg Pro Phe Val Glu Met Tyr Ser Glu Ile Pro Glu Ile Ile His Met Thr Glu Gly Arg Glu Leu Val Ile Pro Cys Arg Val Thr Ser Pro Asn Ile Thr Val Thr Leu Lys Lys Phe Pro Leu Asp Thr Leu Ile Pro Asp Gly Lys Arg Ile Ile Trp Asp Ser Arg Lys Gly Phe Ile Ile Ser Asn Ala Thr Tyr Lys Glu Ile Gly Leu Leu Thr Cys Glu Ala Thr Val Asn Gly His Leu Tyr Lys Thr Asn Tyr Leu Thr His Arg Gln Thr Asn Thr Ile Ile Asp Val Gln Ile Ser Thr Pro Arg Pro Val Lys Leu Leu Arg Gly His Thr Leu Val Leu Asn Cys Thr Ala Thr Thr Pro Leu Asn Thr Arg Val Gln Met Thr Trp Ser Tyr Pro Asp Glu Lys Asn Lys Arg Ala Ser Val Arg Arg Arg Ile Asp Gln Ser Asn Ser His Ala Asn Ile Phe Tyr Ser Val Leu Thr Ile Asp Lys Met Gln Asn Lys Asp Lys Gly Leu Tyr Thr Cys Arg Val Arg Ser Gly Pro Ser Phe Lys Ser Val Asn Thr Ser Val His Ile Tyr Asp Lys Ala Phe Ile Thr Val Lys His Arg Lys Gln Gln Val Leu Glu Thr Val Ala Gly Lys Arg Ser Tyr Arg Leu Ser Met Lys Val Lys Ala Phe Pro Ser Pro Glu Val Val Trp Leu Lys Asp Gly Leu Pro Ala Thr Glu Lys Ser Ala Arg Tyr Leu Thr Arg Gly Tyr Ser Leu Ile Ile Lys Asp Val Thr Glu Glu Asp Ala Gly Asn Tyr Thr Ile Leu Leu Ser Ile Lys Gln Ser Asn Val Phe Lys Asn Leu Thr Ala Thr Leu Ile Val Asn Val Lys Pro Gln Ile Tyr Glu Lys Ala Val Ser Ser Phe Pro Asp Pro Ala Leu Tyr Pro Leu Gly Ser Arg Gln Ile Leu Thr Cys Thr Ala Tyr Gly Ile Pro Gln Pro Thr Ile Lys Ala Phe Trp His Pro Cys Asn His Asn His Ser Glu Ala Arg Cys Asp Phe Cys Ser Asn Asn Glu Glu Ser Phe Ile Leu Asp Ala Asp Ser Asn Met Gly Asn Arg Ile Glu Ser Ile Thr Gln Arg Met Ala Ile Ile Glu Gly Lys Asn Lys Met Ala Ser Thr Leu Val Val Ala Asp Ser Arg Ile Ser Gly Ile Tyr Ile Cys Ile Ala Ser Asn Lys Val Gly Thr Val Gly Arg Asn Ile Ser Phe Tyr Ile Thr Asp Val Pro Asn Gly Phe His Val Asn Leu Glu Lys Met Pro Thr Glu Gly Gln Asp Leu Lys Leu Ser Cys Thr Val Asn Lys Phe Leu Tyr Arg Asp Val Thr Trp Ile Leu Leu Arg Thr Val Asn Asn Arg Thr Met His Tyr Ser Ile Ser Lys Gln Lys Met Ala Ile Thr Lys Glu His Ser Ile Thr Leu Asn Leu Thr Ile Met Asn Val Ser Leu Gln Asp Ser Gly Thr Tyr Ala Cys Arg Ala Arg Asn Val Tyr Thr Gly Glu Glu Ile Leu Gln Lys Lys Glu Ile Thr Ile Arg Gly Glu His Cys Asn Lys Lys Ala Val Phe Ser Arg Ile Ser Lys Phe Lys Ser Thr Arg Asn Asp Cys Thr Thr Gln Ser Asn Val Lys His.


5. The soluble VEGF inhibitor of claim 2 corresponding to sVEGF-RII comprising the amino acid sequence: (SEQ ID NO.:13) MQSKVLLAVALWLCVETRAASVGLPSVSLDLPRLSIQKDILTIKA NTTLQITCRGQRDLDWLWPNNQSGSEQRVEVTECSDGLFCKTLTI PKVIGNDTGAYKCFYRETDLASVIYVYVQDYRSPFIASVSDQHGV VYITENKNKTVVIPCLGSISNLNVSLCARYPEKRFVPDGNRISWDS KKGFTIPSYMISYAGMVFCEAKINDESYQSIMYIVVVVGYRIYDVV LSPSHGIELSVGEKLVLNCTARTELNVGIDFNWEYPSSKHQHKKL VNRDLKTQSGSEMKKFLSTLTIDGVTRSDQGLYTCAASSGLMTKK NSTFVRVHEKPFVAFGSGMESLVEATVGERVRIPAKYLGYPPPEIK WYKNGIPLESNHTIKAGHVLTIMEVSERDTGNYTVILTNPISKEKQ SHVVSLVVYVPPQIGEKSLISPVDSYQYGTTQTLTCTVYAIPPPHHI HWYWQLEEECANEPSQAVSVTNPYPCEEWRSVEDFQGGNKIAVN KNQFALIEGKNKTVSTLVIQAANVSALYKCEAVNKVGRGERVISF HVTRGPEITLQPDMQPTEQESVSLWCTADRSTFENLTWYKLGPQP LPIHVGELPTPVCKNLDTLWKLNATMFSNSTNDILIMELKNASLQ DQGDYVCLAQDRKTKKRHCVVRQLTVLER.


6. The soluble VEGF inhibitor of claim 2 corresponding to sVEGF-RTMI comprising the amino acid sequence: (SEQ ID NO.:14) MVSYWDTGVLLCALLSCLLLTGSSSGSKLKDPELSLKGTQHIMQA GQTLHLQCRGEAAHKWSLPEMVSKESERLSITKSACGRNGKQFCS TLTLNTAQANHTGFYSCKYLAVPTSKKKETESAIYLFISDTGRPFV EMYSEIPEIIHMTEGRELVIPCRVTSPNITVTLKKFPLDTLIPDGKRI IWDSRKGFIISNATYKEIGLLTCEATVNGHLYKTNYLTHRQTNTII DVQISTPRPVKLLRGHTLVLNCTATTPLNTRVQMTWSYPDEKNK RASVRRRIDQSNSHANIFYSVLTIDKMQNKDKGLYTCRVRSGPSFK SVNTSVHIYDKAFITVKHRKQQVLETVAGKRSYRLSMKVKAFPSP EVVWLKDGLPATEKSARYLTRGYSLIIKDVTEEDAGNYTLLLSIK QSNVFKNLTATLIVNYKPQIYEKAVSSFPDPALYPLGSRQILTCTA YGIPQPTIKWFWHPCNHNHSEARCDFCSNNEESFILDADSNMGNRI ESITQRMAIIEGKNKMASTLVVADSRISGIYICIASNKVGTVGRNISF YITDVPNGFHVNLEKMPTEGEDLKLSCTVNKFLYRDVTWILLRT VNNRTMHYSISKQKMAITKEHSITLNLTIMNVSLQDSGTYACRAR NVYTGEEILQKKEITIRDQEAPYLLRNLSDHTVAISSSTTLDCHAN GVPEPQIWFKNNHKIQQEPGIILGPGSSTLFIERVTEEDEGVYHC KATNQKGSVESSAYLTVQGTSDKSNLELITLTCTCVAATLFWLLL TLLI.


7. The soluble VEGF inhibitor of claim 2 corresponding to sVEGF-RTMII comprising the amino acid sequence: (SEQ ID NO.:15) MQSKVLLAVALWLCVETRAASVGLPSVSLDLPRLSIQKDILTIKA NTTLQITCRGQRDLDWLWPNNQSGSEQRVEVTECSDGLFCKTLTI PKVIGNDTGAYKCFYRETDLASVIYVYVQDYRSPFIASVSDQHGV VYITENKNXTVVIPCLGSISNLNVSLCARYPEKRFVPDGNRISWDS KKGFTIPSYMISYAGMVFCEAKINDESYQSIIMYIVVVVGYRIYDVV LSPSHGIELSVGEKLVLNCTARTELNVGIDFNWEYPSSKHQHKKL VNRDLKTQSGSEMKKFLSTLTIDGVTRSDQGLYTCAASSGLMTKK NSTFVRVHEKPFVAFGSGMESLVEATVGERVRIPAKYLGYPPPEIK WYKNGIPLESNHTIKAGHVLTIMEVSERDTGNYTVILTNPISKEKQ SHVVSLVVYVPPQIGEKSLISPVDSYQYGTTQTLTCTVYAIPPPHHI HWYWQLEEECANEPSQAVSVTNPYPCEEWRSVEDFQGGNKIAVN KNQFALIEGKNKTVSTLVIQAANVSALYKCEAVNKVGRGERVISF HVTRGPEITLQPDMQPTEQESVSLWCTADRSTFENLTWYKLGPQP LPIHVGELPTPVCKNLDTLWKLNATMFSNSTNDILIMELKNASLQ DQGDYVCLAQDRKTKKRHCVVRQLTVLERVAPTITGNLENQTTS IGESIEVSCTASGNPPPQIMWFKDNETLVEDSGIVLKDGNRNLTIR RVRKEDEGLYCQACSVLGCAKVEAFFIIEGAQEKTNLEIIILVGTT VIAMFFWLLLVIILGTV.


8. An expression vector comprising a promoter, and a DNA sequence encoding a soluble VEGF inhibitor for expression in recombinant host cells wherein the soluble VEGF inhibitor is selected from the group consisting of sVEGF-RI, sVEGF-RII, sVEGF-RTMI and sVEGF-RTMII.
 9. The expression vector of claim 8 wherein the DNA encoding the sVEGF-RI comprises the nucleotide sequence: GCGGACACTCCTCTCGGCTCCTCCCCGGCAGCGGCGGCGGCTCG (SEQ ID NO.:5) GAGCGGGCTCCGGGGCTCGGGTGCAGCGGCCAGCGGGCCTGGC GGCGAGGATTACCCGGGGAAGTGGTTGTCTCCTGGCTGGAGCC GCGAGACGGGCGGTGAGGGCGCGGGGGGGGGGGCGGCGAACG AGAGGACGGACTCTGGCGGCCGGGTCGTTGGCCGGGGGAGCGC GGGCACCGGGCGAGCAGGGCGCGTCGGGGTCACG ATG GTC AGC TAC TGG GAG ACC GGG GTC GTG GTG TGG GGG CTG CTC AGG TGT CTG CTT CTC ACA GGA TCT AGT TGA GGT TCA AAA TTA AAA GAT CCT GAA CTG AGT TTA AAA GGG ACC CAG CAC ATC ATG CAA GCA GGC CAG ACA CTG CAT CTC CAA TGC AGG GGG GAA GCA GCC CAT AAA TGG TCT TTG CCT GAA ATG GTG AGT AAG GAA AGC GAA AGG CTG AGC ATA ACT AAA TCT GCC TGT GGA AGA AAT GGC AAA CAA TTC TGC AGT ACT TTA ACC TTG AAC ACA GCT CAA GCA AAC CAC ACT GGC TTC TAC AGC TGC AAA TAT CTA GCT GTA CCT ACT TCA AAG AAG AAG GAA ACA GAA TCT GGA ATC TAT ATA TTT ATT AGT GAT ACA GGT AGA CCT TTC GTA GAG ATG TAC AGT GAA ATC CCC GAA ATT ATA CAC ATG ACT GAA GGA AGG GAG CTC GTC ATT CCC TGC CGG GTT ACG TCA CCT AAC ATC ACT GTT ACT TTA AAA AAG TTT CCA CTT GAC ACT TTG ATC CCT GAT GGA AAA CGC ATA ATC TGG GAC AGT AGA AAG GGC TTC ATC ATA TCA AAT GCA ACG TAC AAA GAA ATA GGG CTT CTG ACC TGT GAA GCA ACA GTC AAT GGG CAT TTG TAT AAG ACA AAC TAT CTC ACA CAT CGA CAA ACC AAT ACA ATC ATA GAT GTC CAA ATA AGC ACA GCA CGC CCA GTC AAA TTA CTT AGA GGC CAT ACT CTT GTC CTC AAT TGT ACT GCT ACC ACT CCC TTG AAG ACG AGA GTT CAA ATG ACC TGG AGT TAC CCT GAT GAA AAA AAT AAG AGA GCT TCC GTA AGG CGA CGA ATT GAC CAA AGC AAT TCC CAT GCC AAC ATA TTG TAC AGT GTT CTT ACT ATT GAC AAA ATG CAG AAC AAA GAC AAA GGA CTT TAT ACT TGT CGT GTA AGG AGT GGA CCA TCA TTC AAA TCT GTT AAC ACC TCA GTG CAT ATA TAT GAT AAA GCA TTC ATC ACT GTG AAA CAT CGA AAA CAG CAG GTG CTT GAA ACC GTA GCT GGC AAG CGG TCT TAC CGG CTC TCT ATG AAA GTG AAG GCA TTT CCC TCG CCG GAA GTT GTA TGG TTA AAA GAT GGG TTA CCT GCG ACT GAG AAA TCT GCT CGC TAT TTG ACT CGT GGC TAC TCG TTA ATT ATC AAG GAC GTA ACT GAA GAG GAT GCA GGG AAT TAT ACA ATC TTG CTG AGC ATA AAA CAG TCA AAT GTG TTT AAA AAC CTC ACT GCC ACT CTA ATT GTC AAT GTG AAA CCC CAG ATT TAC GAA AAG GCC GTG TCA TCG TTT CCA GAC CCG GCT CTC TAC CCA CTG GGC AGC AGA CAA ATC CTG ACT TGT ACC GCA TAT GGT ATC CCT CAA CCT ACA ATC AAG TGG TTC TGG CAC CCC TGT AAC CAT AAT CAT TCC GAA GCA AGG TGT GAC TTT TGT TCC AAT AAT GAA GAG TCC TTT ATC CTG GAT GCT GAC AGC AAC ATG GGA AAC AGA ATT GAG AGC ATC ACT CAG CGC ATG GCA ATA ATA GAA GGA AAG AAT AAG ATG GCT AGC ACC TTG GTT GTG GCT GAC TCT AGA ATT TCT GGA ATC TAC ATT TGC ATA GCT TCC AAT AAA GTT GGG ACT GTG GGA AGA AAC ATA AGC TTT TAT ATC ACA GAT GTG CCA AAT GGG TTT CAT GTT AAC TTG GAA AAA ATG CCG ACG GAA GGA GAG GAC CTG AAA CTG TCT TGC ACA GTT AAC AAG TTC TTA TAC AGA GAC GTT ACT TGG ATT TTA CTG CGG ACA GTT AAT AAC AGA ACA ATG CAC TAC AGT ATT AGC AAG CAA AAA ATG GCC ATC ACT AAG GAG CAC TCC ATC ACT CTT AAT CTT ACC ATC ATG AAT GTT TCC CTG CAA GAT TCA GGC ACC TAT GCC TGC AGA GCC AGG AAT GTA TAC ACA GGG GAA GAA ATC CTC CAG AAG AAA GAA ATT ACA ATC AGA GGT GAG CAC TGC AAC AAA AAG GCT GTT TTC TCT CGG ATC TCC AAA TTT AAA AGC ACA AGG AAT GAT TGT ACC ACA CAA AGT AAT GTA AAA CAT TAA AGGACTCATTAAAAAGTAACAGTTGTCTCATATCATCTTGATT TATTGTCACTGTTGCTAACTTTCAGGCTCGGAGGAGATGCTCC TCCCAAAATGAGTTCGGAGATGATAGCAGTAATAATGAGACCC CCGGGCTCCAGCTCTGGGCCCCCCATTCAGGCCGAGGGGGCTG CTCCGGGGGGCCGACTTGGTGCACGTTTGGATTTGGAGGATCC CTGCACTGCCTTCTCTGTGTTTGTTGCTCTTGCTGTTTTCTCCT GCCTGATAAACAACAACTTGGGATGATCCTTTCCATTTTGATG CCAACCTCTTTTTATTTTTAAGCGGCGCCCTATAGT.


10. The expression vector of claim 8 wherein the DNA encoding the sVEGF-RII comprises the nucleotide sequence: (SEQ ID NO.:16) GGTGTGGTCGCTGCGTTTCCTCTGCCTGCGCCGGGCATCACTTG CGCGCCGCAGAAAGTCCGTCTGGCAGCCTGGATATCCTCTCCT ACCGGCACCCGCAGACGCCCCTGCAGCCGCGGTCGGCGCCCGG GCTCCCTAGCCCTGTGCGCTCAACTGTCCTGCGCTGCGGGGTGC CGCGAGTTCCACCTCCGCGCCTCCTTCTCTAGACAGGCGCTGGG AGAAAGAACCGGCTCCCGAGTTCCGGCATTTCGCCCGGCTCGA GGTGCAGGATGCAGAGCAAGGTGCTGCTGGCCGTCGCCCTGTG GGTGCAGGATGCAGAGCAAGGTGCTGCTGGCCGTCGCCCTGTG GCTCTGCGTGGAGACCCGGGCCGCCTCTGTGGGTTTGCCTAGT GTTTCTCTTGATCTGCCCAGGCTCAGCATACAAAAAGACATAC TTACAATTAAGGCTAATACAACTCTTCAAATTACTTGCAGGGG ACAGAGGGACTTGGACTGGCTTTGGCCCAATAATCAGAGTGGC AGTGAGCAAAGGGTGGAGGTGACTGAGTGCAGCGATGGCCTC TTCTGTAAGACACTCACAATTCCAAAAGTGATCGGAAATGACA CTGGAGCCTACAAGTGCTTCTACCGGGAAACTGACTTGGCCTC GGTCATTTATGTCTATGTTCAAGATTACAGATCTCCATTTATTG CTTCTGTTAAGTGACCAACATGGAGTCGTGTACATTACTGAGAA CAAAAACAAAACTGTGGTGATTCCATGTCTCGGGTCCATTTCA AATCTCAACGTGTCACTTTGTGCAAGATACCCAGAAAAGAGAT TTGTTCCTGATGGTAACAGAATTTCCTGGGACAGCAAGAAGGG CTTTACTATTCCCAGCTACATGATCAGCTATGCTGGCATGGTCT TCTGTGAAGCAAAAATTAATGATGAAAGTTACCAGTCTATTAT GTACATAGTTGTCGTTGTAGGGTATAGGATTTATGATGTGGTT CTGAGTCCGTCTCATGGAATTGAACTATCTGTTGGAGAAAAGC TTGTCTTAAATTGTACAGCAAGAACTGAACTAAATGTGGGGAT TGACTTCAACTGGGAATACCCTTCTTCGAAGCATCAGCATAAG AAACTTGTAAACCGAGACCTAAAAACCCAGTCTGGGAGTGAGA TGAAGAAATTTTTGAGCACCTTAACTATAGATGGTGTAACCCG GAGTGACCAAGGATTGTACACCTGTGCAGCATCCAGTGGGCTG ATGACCAAGAAGAACAGCACATTTGTCAGGGTCCATGAAAAAC CTTTTGTTGCTTTTGGAAGTGGCATGGAATCTCTGGTGGAAGC CACGGTGGGGGAGCGTGTCAGAATCCCTGCGAAGTACCTTGGT TACCCACCCCCAGAAATAAAATGGTATAAAAATGGAATACCCC TTGAGTCCAATCACACAATTAAAGCGGGGCATGTACTGACGAT TATGGAAGTGAGTGAAAGAGACACAGGAAATTACACTGTCAT CCTTACCAATCCCATTTCAAAGGAGAAGCAGAGCCATGTGGTC TCTCTGGTTGTGTATGTCCCACCCCAGATTGGTGAGAAATCTCT AATCTCTCCTGTGGATTCCTACCAGTACGGCACCACTCAAACGC TGACATGTACGGTCTATGCCATTCCTCCCCCGCATCACATCCAC TGGTATTGGCAGTTGGAGGAAGAGTGCGCCAACGAGCCCAGCC AAGCTGTCTCAGTGACAAACCCATACCCTTGTGAAGAATGGAG AAGTGTGGAGGACTTCCAGGGAGGAAATAAAATTGCCGTTAA TAAAAATCAATTTGCTCTAATTGAAGGAAAAAACAAAACTGTA AGTACCCTTGTTATCCAAGCGGCAAATGTGTCAGCTTTGTACA AATGTGAAGCGGTCAACAAAGTCGGGAGAGGAGAGAGGGTGA TCTCCTTCCACGTGACCAGGGGTCCTGAAATTACTTTGCAACCT GACATGCAGCCCACTGAGCAGGAGAGCGTGTCTTTGTGGTGCA CTGCAGACAGATCTACGTTTGAGAACCTCACATGGTACAAGCT TGGCCCACAGCCTCTGCCAATCCATGTGGGAGAGTTGCCCACA CCTGTTTGCAAGAACTTGGATACTCTTTGGAAATTGAATGCCA CCATGTTCTCTAATAGCACAAATGACATTTTGATCATGGAGCT TAAGAATGCATCCTTGCAGGACCAAGGAGACTATGTCTGCCTT GCTCAAGACAGGAAGACCAAGAAAAGACATTGCGTGGTCAGG CAGCTCACAGTCCTAGAGCGTTAA.


11. The expression vector of claim 8 wherein the DNA encoding the sVEGF-RTMI comprises the nucleotide sequence: (SEQ ID NO.:17) GCGCTCACCATGGTCAGCTACTGGGACACCGGGGTCCTGCTGT GCGCGCTGCTCAGCTGTCTGCTTCTCACAGGATCTAGTTCAGGT TCAAAATTAAAAGATCCTGAACTGAGTTTAAAAGGCACCCAGC ACATCATGCAAGCAGGCCAGACACTGCATCTCCAATGCAGGGG GGAAAGCAGCCCATAAATGGTCTTTGCCTGAAATGGTGAGTAAG GAAAGCGAAAGGCTGAGCATAACTAAATCTGCCTGTGGAAGA AATGGCAAACAATTCTGCAGTACTTTAACCTTGAACACAGCTC AAGCAAACCACACTGGCTTCTACAGCTGCAAATATCTAGCTGT ACCTACTTCAAAGAAGAAGGAAACAGAATCTGCAATCTATATA TTTATTAGTGATACAGGTAGACCTTTCGTAGAGATGTACAGTG AAATCCCCGAAATTATACACATGACTGAAGGAAGGGAGCTCGT CATTCCCTGCCGGGTTACGTCACCTAACATCACTGTTACTTTAA AAAAGTTTCCACTTGACACTTTGATCCCTGATGGAAAACGCAT AATCTGGGACAGTAGAAAGGGCTTCATCATATCAAATGCAACG TACAAAGAAATAGGGCTTCTGACCTGTGAAGCAACAGTCAATG GGCATTTGTATAAGACAAACTATCTCACACATCGACAAACCAA TACAATCATAGATGTCCAAATAAGCACACCACGCCCAGTCAAA TTACTTAGAGGCCATACTCTTGTCCTCAATTGTACTGCTACCAC TCCCTTGAACACGAGAGTTCAAATGACCTGGAGTTACCCTGAT GAAAAAAATAAGAGAGCTTCCGTAAGGCGACGAATTGACCAA AGCAATTCCCATGCCAACATATTCTACAGTGTTCTTACTATTGA CAAAATGCAGAACAAAGACAAAGGACTTTATACTTGTCGTGTA AGGAGTGGACCATCATTCAAATCTGTTAACACCTCAGTGCATA TATATGATAAAGCATTCATCACTGTGAAACATCGAAAACAGCA GGTGCTTGAAACCGTAGCTGGCAAGCGGTCTTACCGGCTCTCT ATGAAAGTGAAGGCATTTCCCTCGCCGGAAGTTGTATGGTTAA AAGATGGGTTACCTGCGACTGAGAAATCTGCTCGCTATTTGAC TCGTGGCTACTCGTTAATTATCAAGGACGTAACTGAAGAGGAT GCAGGGAATTATACAATCTTGCTGAGCATAAAACAGTCAAATG TGTTTAAAAACCTCACTGCCACTCTAATTGTCAATGTGAAACC CCAGATTTACGAAAAGGCCGTGTCATCGTTTCCAGACCCGGCT CTCTACCCACTGGGCAGCAGACAAATCCTGACTTGTACCGCAT ATGGTATCCCTCAACCTACAATCAAGTGGTCTGGCACCCCTGT AACCATAATCATTCCGAAGCAAGGTGTGACTTTTGTTCCAATA ATGAAGAGTCCTTTATCCTGGATGCTGACAGCAACATGGGAAA CAGAATTGAGAGCATCACTCAGCGCATGGCAATAATAGAAGG AAAGAATAAGATGGCTAGCACCTTGGTTGTGGCTGACTCTAGA ATTTCTGGAATCTACATTTGCATAGCTTCCAATAAAGTTGGGA CTGTGGGAAGAAACATAAGCTTTTATATCACAGATGTGCCAAA TGGGTTTCATGTTAACTTGGAAAAAATGCCGACGGAAGGAGA GGACCTGAAACTGTCTTGCACAGTTAACAAGTTCTTATACAGA GACGTTACTTGGATTTTACTGCGGACAGTTAATAACAGAACAA TGCACTACAGTATTAGCAAGCAAAAAATGGCCATCACTAAGGA GCACTCCATCACTCTTAATCTTACCATCATGAATGTTTCCCTGC AAGATTCAGGCACCTATGCCTGCAGAGCCAGGAATGTATACAC AGGGGAAGAAATCCTCCAGAAGAAAGAAATTACAATCAGAGA TCAGGAAGCACCATACCTCCTGCGAAACCTCAGTGATCACACA GTGGCCATCAGCAGTTCCACCACTTTAGACTGTCATGCTAATG GTGTCCCCGAGCCTCAGATCACTTGGTTTAAAAACAACCACAA AATACAACAAGAGCCTGGAATTATTTTAGGACCAGGAAGCAGC ACGCTGTTTATTGAAAGAGTCACAGAAGAGGATGAAGGTGTCT ATCACTGCAAAGCCACCAACCAGAAGGGCTCTGTGGAAAGTTC AGCATACCTCACTGTTCAAGGAACCTCGGACAAGTCTAATCTG GAGCTGATCACTCTAACATGCACCTGTGTGGCTGCGACTCTCTT CTGGCTCCTATTAACCCTCCTTATCTAA.


12. The expression vector of claim 8 wherein the DNA encoding the sVEGF-RTMII comprises the nucleotide sequence: (SEQ.ID.NO.:18) CTCGAGGTGCAGGATGCAGAGCAAGGTGCTGCTGGCCGTCGCC CTGTGGCTCTGCGTGGAGACCCGGGCCGCCTCTGTGGGTTTGC CTAGTGTTTCTCTTGATCTGCCCAGGCTCAGCATACAAAAAGA CATACTTACAATTAAGGCTAATACAACTCTTCAAATTACTTGC AGGGGACAGAGGACTGGACTGGCTTTGGCCCAATAATCAGA GTGGCAGTGAGCAAAGGGTGGAGGTGACTGAGTGCAGCGATG GCCTCTTCTGTAAGACACTCACAATTCCAAAAGTGATCGGAAA TGACACTGGAGCCTACAAGTGCTTCTACCGGGAAACTGACTTG GCCTCGGTCATTTATGTCTATGTTCAAGATTACAGATCTCCATT TATTGCTTCTGTTAGTGACCAACATGGAGTCGTGTACATTACT GAGAACAAAAACAAAACTGTGGTGATTCCATGTCTCGGGTCCA TTTCAAATCTCAACGTGTCACTTTGTGCAAGATACCCAGAAAA GAGATTTGTTCCTGATGGTAACAGAATTTCCTGGGACAGCAAG AAGGGCTTTACTATTCCCAGCTACATGATCAGCTATGCTGGCA TGGTCTTCTGTGAAGCAAAAATTAATGATGAAAGTTACCAGTC TATTATGTACATAGTTGTCGTTGTAGGGTATAGGATTTATGAT GTGGTTCTGAGTCCGTCTCATGGAATTGAACTATCTGTTGGAG AAAAGCTTGTCTTAAATTGTACAGCAAGAACTGAACTAAATGT GGGGATTGACTTCAACTGGGAATACCCTTTCTTCGAAGCATCAG CATAAGAAACTTGTAAACCGAGACCTAAAAACCCAGTCTGGA GTGAGATGAAGAAAKTTTTTGAGCACCTTAACTATAGATGGTGT AACCCGGAGTGACCAAGGATTGTACACCTGTGCAGCATCCAGT GGGCTGATGACCAAGAAGAACAGCACATTTGTCAGGGTCCATG AAAAACCTTTTGTTGCTTTTGGAAGTGGCATGGAATCTCTGGT GGAAGCCACGGTGGGOGAGCGTGTCAGAATCCCGCGAAGTAC CTTGGTTACCCACCCCCAGAAATAAAATGGTATAAAAATGGAA TACCCCTTGAGTCCAATCACACAATTAAAGCGGGGCATGTACT GACGATTATGGAAGTGAGTGAAAGAGACACAGGAAACAC TGTCATCCTTACCAATCCCATTTCAAAGGAGAAGCAGAGCCAT GTGGTCTCTCTGGTTGTGTATGTCCCACCCCAGATTGGTGAGA AATCTCTAATCTCTCCTGTGGATTCCTACCAGTACGGCACCACT CAAACGCTGACATGTACGGTCTATGCCATTCCTCCCCCGCATCA CATCCACTGGTATTGGCAGTTGGAGGAAGAGTGCGCCAACGAG CCCAGCCAAGCTGTCTCAGTGACAAACCCATACCCTTGTGAAG AATGGAGAAGTGTGGAGGACTTCCAGGGAGGAAATAAAATTG CCGTTAATAAAAATCAATTTGCTCTAATTGAAGGAAAAAACAA AACTGTAAGTACCCTTGTTATCCAAGCGGCAAATGTGTCAGCT TTGTACAAATGTGAAGCGGTCAACAAAGTCGGGAGAGGAGAG AGGGTGATCTCCTTCCACGTGACCAGGGGTCCTGAAATTACTT TGCAACCTGACATGCAGCCCACTGAGCAGGAGAGCGTGTCTTT GTGGTGCACTGCAGACAGATCTACGTTGAGAACCTCACATGG TACAAGCTTGGCCCACAGCCTCTGCCAATCCATGTGGGAGAGT TGCCCACACCTGTTTGCAAGAACTTGGATACTCTTTGGAAATT GAATGCCACCATGTTCTCTAATAGCACAAATGACATTTTGATC ATGGAGCTTAAGAATGCATCCTTGCAGGACCAAGGAGACTATG TCTGCCTTGCTCAAGACAGGAAGACCAAGAAAAGACATTGCGT GGTCAGGCAGCTCACAGTCCTAGAGCGTGTGGCACCCACGATC ACAGGAAACCTGGAGAATCAGACGACAAGTATTGGGGAAAGC ATCGAAGTCTCATGCACGGCATCTGGGAATCCCCTCCACAGA TCATGTGGTTTAAAGATAATGAGACCCTTGTAGAAGACTCAGG CATTGTATTGAAGGATGGGAACCGGAACCTCACTATCCGCAGA GTGAGGAAGGAGGACGAAGGCCTCTACACCTGCCAGGCATGCA GTGTTCTTGGCTGTGCAAAAGTGGAGGCATTTTTCATAATAGA AGGTGCCCAGGAAAAGACGAACTTGGAAATCATTATTCTAGTA GGCACGACGGTGATTGCCATGTTCTTCTGGCTACTTCTTGTCAT CATCCTAGGGACCGTTTAA.


13. A recombinant host cell containing the expression vector of claim
 8. 14. A method for inhibiting VEGF receptor function comprising the administration of the VEGF inhibitor of claim 1 in an amount sufficient to inhibit VEGF receptor function.
 15. The method of claim 14 wherein the VEGF inhibitor is selected from the group consisting of sVEGF-RI, sVEGF-RII, sVEGF-RTMI, and sVEGF-RTMII.
 16. A pharmaceutical composition comprising the inhibitor of claim 1 and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
 17. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 16 wherein the inhibitor is selected from the group consisting of sVEGF-RI, sVEGF-RII, sVEGF-RTMI, and sVEGF-RTMII.
 18. A method for inhibiting angiogenesis comprising the administration of the VEGF inhibitor of claim 1 in an amount sufficient to inhibit angiogensis. 